Tag: College Football

Ideal CFB Season Version 4.0

College football has always been the Wild West compared to other big time American sports and that is a true as ever. Does the NCAA have any real power over CFB? What will the conferences look like in ten years? What is going on with the transfer portal, NIL, and paying players? The answers change every day.

This chaos is part of what makes CFB so great. Below I have mapped out what I think an ideal CFB season would look like. It maintains what is great about CFB, but also cuts out some of the ridiculous and unnecessary things. This isn’t a prediction and I’m not naive enough to think everything below will happen. It is simply a vision that I believe would benefit the sport.

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1. Say Goodbye to Week Zero

Let’s simplify things: eliminate Week Zero. Instead, have Week 1 be the actual start to football season in America. And what better way to start it than by having the ONLY game be Army vs Navy. Put all eyes on this game to start the year instead of throwing it in the middle of December right before the CFP is about to start. This would be such an awesome way to still celebrate this game and the players, while also having it kick off football season.

Week 1 will be 15 weeks before Thanksgiving (more on that later) and every other team will start playing on Week 2. For reference, if the CFB season I am laying out occurred this year, that would mean Week 1 would have been August 23rd while Week 2 would have been August 30th.

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2. Rest of the Regular Season: 11 Games in 12 Weeks

Currently, teams play 12 regular-season games with variable conference schedules (8-9 conference games depending on the league). Here’s the ideal adjustment:

  • Schedule: 11 games over 12 weeks, allowing one bye week per team (This would be 11 games in 13 weeks for Army and Navy)
  • Conference Play: Every team plays 9 conference games. Uniformity across Power Four and Group of Five conferences is better for determining the best teams in each conference.
  • Non-Conference Games: Power 4 teams must play 2 non-conference Power Four/Notre Dame matchups. This helps maintain traditional rivalries (like Florida vs. Florida State or West Virginia vs Pitt) and ensures high-caliber matchups early and late in the season.

Why this change?

  • Eliminate Irrelevant Games: No more Alabama vs. Mercer blowouts. These games don’t help determine playoff-worthy teams. Now Power Four teams will only be playing other Power Four teams in the regular season.
  • Tougher Schedules: A more rigorous slate helps identify the truly elite programs.
  • Easier to Compare Teams and Conferences: Let’s imagine a scenario where SMU were to be 9-2 and Tennessee was 8-3. Instead of arguing who has more wins, we could look at non-conference evidence. If SMU played Ole Miss and had their doors blown off, losing by 21 points, while Tennessee beat Ole Miss by 10, that helps us determine who is better. And in general, if the SEC played the ACC 20 times and went 16-4, then we clearly know the SEC is better than the ACC and that should go into determining the CFP teams. Or, if the ACC went 11-9 vs the SEC, we can say “Oh, wow, the ACC and SEC were pretty even and the ACC even has the edge. So a nine win ACC team may be more impressive than a 8 win SEC team.” More non-conference games gives us more evidence of which teams and which conferences are better.

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3. Rivalry Week, Conference Championships, and Playoff Timing

  • Rivalry Week: Two weekends before Thanksgiving
  • Conference Championships: Held the weekend before Thanksgiving.
  • Bye Week: Thanksgiving weekend serves as a universal bye, giving players and coaches a well-deserved break.
  • Playoffs: Begin the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend (more on that below).

This schedule maintains the rhythm of weekly games while still providing players time to recover for the CFP.

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4. The Ideal College Football Playoff Structure

  • 16 Teams Total
  • All At-Large Bids: Open to the 16 best teams, regardless of conference.

Key Principles:

  • No Amount of Guaranteed Bids: No guaranteed spots for conferences. If the Big Ten deserves six teams, they get six. If they deserve two, they get two. If the Big 12 and/or ACC has just one deserving team, so be it.
  • Seeding Based on Performance: Teams are seeded 1-16 based on merit.
  • Reseeding: After each round, teams will be reseeded just like in the NFL playoffs. For those who aren’t familiar with how the NFL does it. After Round 1, there will be 8 teams left heading into Round 2. The highest remaining seed will play the lowest remaining seed, the 2nd highest remaining seed will play the second lowest remaining seed and so on. This will continue throughout the playoffs.

Playoff Schedule:

  • Round of 16: The weekend after Thanksgiving weekend. Games will be played on campus.
  • Quarterfinals & Semifinals: Consecutive weekends thereafter. Games will be played on campus.
  • National Championship: Always held on December 31st at the Rose Bowl.

Why the Rose Bowl? It’s the most iconic venue in college football. The “Granddaddy of Them All” deserves to host the sport’s biggest game annually, preserving tradition while adding prestige to the championship. And the final day of the season will be the final day of the year, which lines up well. Then we can give everyone January 1st off and January 2nd will be when the next season starts to kick off.

All CFP games will be held on campus with the exception of the Rose Bowl. Why? Because home CFP games are so much better than a bunch of bowl games. I understand that bowl games and especially the New Year’s Six bowl games hold a special place inside the hearts of CFB fans. In this modern era of CFB, they don’t need to be front and center (other than the Rose Bowl). Those and every other bowl can still exist, but it will be outside of the playoff.

On campus CFB games have such a better atmosphere than bowl games. It also gives higher seeded home teams a much better advantage, similar to the NFL. It benefits the fans and local communities too. Fans of the home team do not need to spend thousands of dollars traveling around the country to different bowl games. And local economies will be bolstered by the all the people coming into town for the games.

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5. Addressing Coaching and Transfer Portal Chaos

One of the current challenges in college football is the distraction caused by coaching hires and transfer portal decisions during the postseason. To maintain focus on the games, there will be no official coaching changes or transfers allowed until January 2nd and the transfer portal will be open from January 2nd-31st so players and teams will have a whole month to decide what to do.

This will be the one transfer portal window all year. Players will also be allowed one free transfer during their careers. If they transfer again, they will have to sit out a year. Exceptions to this are if a players graduates or their head coach leaves, they get a free transfer. This still reasonably gives players the ability to play for up to three schools in their CFB career, while not encouraging them to transfer a million times on a whim.

The early signing period for high school students will cease to exist and we will just keep the regular signing period starting early February each year. This keeps head coaches, assistant coaches, and players focused on their current teams during the playoffs.

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6. The Long-Term Vision: Super Conferences?

Looking ahead, it’s hard to ignore the possibility of college football evolving into two super conferences:

  • The Big Ten: Dominating the North and West.
  • The SEC: Reigning supreme in the South.

While expansion may not be over, the flexibility built into this ideal system allows for adjustments as the sport continues to shift.

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Final Thoughts

College football is beautiful in its chaos, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. This vision seeks to balance tradition with progress.

Ideal CFB Season Version 3.0

I have talked about this on my podcast and want to have this in blog form too.

College football has always been the Wild West compared to other big time American sports and that is a true as ever. Does the NCAA have any real power over CFB? What will the conferences look like in ten years? What is going on with the transfer portal, NIL, and paying players? The answers change every day.

This chaos is part of what makes CFB so great. Below I have mapped out what I think an ideal CFB season would look like. It maintains what is great about CFB, but also cuts out some of the ridiculous and unnecessary things. This isn’t a prediction and I’m not naive enough to think everything below will happen. It is simply a vision that I believe would benefit the sport.

⸻

1. Say Goodbye to Week Zero

Let’s simplify things: eliminate Week Zero. Instead, have Week 1 be the actual start to football season in America. And what better way to start it than by having the ONLY game be Army vs Navy. Put all eyes on this game to start the year instead of throwing it in the middle of December right before the CFP is about to start. This would be such an awesome way to still celebrate how amazing this game and the players in it are, while also having it kick off football season.

Week 1 will be 15 weeks before Thanksgiving (more on that later) and every other team will start playing on Week 2. For reference, if the CFB season I am laying out occurred this year, that would mean Week 1 would have been August 23rd while Week 2 would have been August 30th.

⸻

2. Rest of the Regular Season: 11 Games in 12 Weeks

Currently, teams play 12 regular-season games with variable conference schedules (8-9 conference games depending on the league). Here’s the ideal adjustment:

  • Schedule: 11 games over 12 weeks, allowing one bye week per team (This would be 11 games in 13 weeks for Army and Navy)
  • Conference Play: Every team plays 9 conference games. Uniformity across Power Four and Group of Five conferences is better for determining the best teams in each conference.
  • Non-Conference Games: Power 4 teams must play 2 non-conference Power Four/Notre Dame matchups. This helps maintain traditional rivalries (like Florida vs. Florida State or West Virginia vs Penn State) and ensures high-caliber matchups early in the season.

Why this change?

  • Eliminate Irrelevant Games: No more Alabama vs. Mercer blowouts. These games don’t help determine playoff-worthy teams. Now Power Four teams will Noel be playing other Power Four teams in the regular season.
  • Tougher Schedules: A more rigorous slate helps identify the truly elite programs.
  • Easier to Compare Teams and Conferences: Let’s imagine a scenario where SMU were to be 9-2 and Tennessee was 8-3. Instead of arguing who has more wins, we could look at non-conference evidence. If SMU played Ole Miss and had their doors blown off, losing by 21 points, while Tennessee beat Ole Miss by 10, that helps us determine who is better. And in general, if the SEC played the ACC 20 times and went 16-4, then we clearly know the SEC is better than the ACC and that should go into determining the CFP teams. Or, if the ACC went 11-9 vs the SEC, we can say “Oh, wow, the ACC and SEC were pretty even and the ACC even has the edge. So a nine win ACC team may be more impressive than a 8 win SEC team.” More non-conference games gives us more evidence of which teams and which conferences are better.

⸻

3. Rivalry Week, Conference Championships, and Playoff Timing

  • Rivalry Week: Two weekends before Thanksgiving
  • Conference Championships: Held the weekend before Thanksgiving.
  • Bye Week: Thanksgiving weekend serves as a universal bye, giving players and coaches a well-deserved break.
  • Playoffs: Begin the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend (more on that below).

This schedule maintains the rhythm of weekly games while still providing players time to recover for the CFP.

⸻

4. The Ideal College Football Playoff Structure

  • 16 Teams Total
  • 5 Automatic Bids: Power Four conference champions + highest-ranked Group of Five champion.
  • 11 At-Large Bids: Open to the best remaining teams, regardless of conference.

Key Principles:

  • No Amount of Guaranteed Bids: No guaranteed spots beyond conference champions. If the Big Ten deserves six teams, they get six. If they deserve two, they get two. If the Big 12 and/or ACC has just one deserving team, so be it.
  • Seeding Based on Performance: Teams are seeded 1-16 based on merit, not conference affiliation.
  • Reseeding: After each round, teams will be reseeded just like in the NFL playoffs. For those who aren’t familiar with how the NFL does it. After Round 1, there will be 8 teams left heading into Round 2. The highest remaining seed will play the lowest remaining seed, the 2nd highest remaining seed will play the second lowest remaining seed and so on. This will continue throughout the playoffs.
  • Flexibility: Things can always change. If the Group of Five auto-bid keeps getting demolished, I have no problem with revoking their auto-bid and having it be the Power Four conference champions and 12 at-large bids. The same applies to Power Four conferences—if future realignments diminish certain leagues’ competitiveness, their auto-bids can be reconsidered. We could even switch to a completely at-large tourney with no conference auto-bids.

Playoff Schedule:

  • Round of 16: The weekend after Thanksgiving weekend. Games will be played on campus.
  • Quarterfinals & Semifinals: Consecutive weekends thereafter. Games will be played on campus.
  • National Championship: Always held on December 31st at the Rose Bowl.

Why the Rose Bowl? It’s the most iconic venue in college football. The “Granddaddy of Them All” deserves to host the sport’s biggest game annually, preserving tradition while adding prestige to the championship. And the final day of the season will be the final day of the year, which lines up well. Then we can give everyone January 1st off and January 2nd will be when the next season starts to kick off.

All CFP games will be held on campus with the exception of the Rose Bowl. Why? Because home CFP games are so much better than a bunch of bowl games. I understand that bowl games and especially the New Year’s Six bowl games hold a special place inside the hearts of CFB fans. In this modern era of CFB, they don’t need to be front and center (other than the Rose Bowl). Those and every other bowl can still exist, but it will be outside of the playoff.

On campus CFB games have such a better atmosphere than bowl games. It also gives higher seeded home teams a much better advantage, similar to the NFL. It benefits the fans and local communities too. Fans of the home team do not need to spend thousands of dollars traveling around the country to different bowl games. And local economies will be bolstered by the all the people coming into town for the games.

⸻

5. Addressing Coaching and Transfer Portal Chaos

One of the current challenges in college football is the distraction caused by coaching hires and transfer portal decisions during the postseason. To maintain focus on the games, there will be no official coaching changes or transfers allowed until January 2nd and the transfer portal will be open from January 2nd-31st so players and teams will have a whole month to decide what to do.

This will be the one transfer portal window all year. Players will also be allowed one free transfer during their careers. If they transfer again, they will have to sit out a year. Exceptions to this are if a players graduates or their coach leaves, they get a free transfer. This still reasonably gives players the ability to play for up to three schools in their CFB career, while not encouraging them to transfer a million times on a whim.

This keeps head coaches, assistant coaches, and players focused on their current teams during the playoffs. The way the transfer portal works now is terrible. Imagine you’re the backup QB at Ohio State and they are making a run to the national championship. You have been at Ohio State for three years and have not really played. You only have two years of eligibility remaining and you also know the guy in front of you will likely be here for two more years. You decide that you will transfer to another school in order to actually play. With the way it works now, you would have to decide between two options:

  • Option 1. You abandon your team during the CFP run when they may need you in case the starter gets hurt, in order to ensure you go to the best team in search of a QB. While this would set you up well for the next two years and help your dream of making the NFL, you also will carry the guilt of feeling like you abandoned teammates while not getting to partake in a National Championship run with guys you have spent the last three years battling with. Since you feel pressure to transfer ASAP, you may run the risk of rushing your decision.
  • Option 2. You opt to stay and help your team with their playoff run. You feel good about doing this, however, by the time the season ends with you losing in the National Championship game, all the good programs looking for QBs have been filled and now you have to transfer to a much worse team than you other wise could start for.

Why are we making these players go through these agonizing decisions? This new Transfer Window gives players plenty of time to make their decision and still allows them to start spring semester on their new team, so they’re there at spring practice. It also encourages them to stay at a school for at least a year, rather than transfer a couple months later in April.

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6. The Long-Term Vision: Super Conferences?

Looking ahead, it’s hard to ignore the possibility of college football evolving into two super conferences:

  • The Big Ten: Dominating the North and West.
  • The SEC: Reigning supreme in the South.

While expansion may not be over, the flexibility built into this ideal system allows for adjustments as the sport continues to shift. This structure can adapt without compromising competitive integrity.

⸻

Final Thoughts

College football is beautiful in its chaos, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. This vision seeks to balance tradition with progress. Whether you agree or disagree with these ideas, one thing’s certain: the future of college football will be anything but boring.

College Football Week 7

South Carolina @ 7 Alabama

Alabama has such a wide range of performance. At their ceiling, they can beat anyone, like when they put up a 28-0 lead on Georgia and beat them. At their floor, they can lose to teams they absolutely should beat, like Vanderbilt. With so many good teams in the SEC, that isn’t the consistency needed to win the conference and win the Natty.

Saturday was the perfect example of their floor where they let a much worse USC team hang around. USC failed on a 2-point conversion to tie the game, despite a wide open receiver their QB simply missed. That should have been the game. Instead, Bama botches the onside kick and gave USC another chance to win the game. If they keep playing this way in the SEC, they won’t make the conference championship.

I also do not see Jalen Milroe as a legitimate NFL prospect. He came into this week as Mel Kiper’s #2 QB which I think is crazy. He is not a consistent enough passer and makes too many poor decisions with the football to be great in the NFL. He is such a good athlete that he may eventually be able to develop into a good NFL QB with the right coach, but it’s a long shot. I think Shedeur Sanders and Quinn Ewers are the clear cut top two prospects and after that there is much more uncertainty.

1 Texas vs 18 Oklahoma

QB Quinn Ewers looked shaky early. He got better as the game went on, but will need to play better if they want to beat Georgia. If he was more settled, this would have been a bigger blow out. There will be noise this week about Arch Manning playing over Ewers. A bad performance against Georgia will only make those voices louder.

Texas’s defense led the way and played great the whole game. They put the offense in position to score so many times. The offense missed many opportunities to put the game away earlier.

Oklahoma’s defense is great, but the offense could not keep up. Their QB should be good once he develops more, but he could not handle Texas’s defense, especially with his top FIVE wide receivers out.

2 Ohio State at 3 Oregon

This game lived up to the hype. Both teams are so even, either could have pulled out the win. I believe these are the two best teams in the Big 10 and they will meet in the championship game, with Ohio State getting revenge.

9 Ole Miss at 13 LSU

Another awesome night game that was overshadowed by the Big 10 showdown mentioned above. LSU saved their SEC title hopes with the win and ended Ole Miss’s chance to make it. The SEC is super close right now and Texas A&M, Texas, and LSU are the only SEC teams without a conference loss.

College Football Blue Blood Programs

We often hear of the Blue Blood programs when it comes to college basketball, but not so much with college football even though there clearly is a hierarchy in the sport. Below are the CFB Blue Bloods according to us (not in any particular order):

  • Alabama (SEC)
  • Georgia (SEC)
  • LSU (SEC)
  • Florida (SEC)
  • Oklahoma (SEC)
  • Texas (SEC)
  • Clemson (ACC)
  • FSU (ACC)
  • Miami (ACC)
  • Notre Dame (Independent)
  • Ohio State (Big 10)
  • Michigan (Big 10)
  • Penn State (Big 10)
  • USC (Big 10)
  • Nebraska (Big 10)

College Football Week 1 Reaction

College football is now fully back and had an awesome slate of games. My hope is that the 12 team playoff encourages teams to play tough non conference games like we saw this weekend.

Georgia struggled offensively for a lot of their game vs Clemson. They’re so good that they were still able to blow out Clemson. Clemson’s lack of adapting to the transfer portal and NIL may end up being the downfall of them being an elite program.

Quinn Ewers might be the most under appreciated QB in the country. He is a 5-Star recruit, led Texas to the playoff last year, and is projected to be a 1st round pick yet people talk more about his back up than him. Texas blew out Colorado St. 52-0 and the biggest story is that Arch Manning played in the game.

Nico Iamaleava looks like he is going to be a stud. He throws the ball so well and could be a top draft pick in a couple years.

Miami blew out Florida and looked great doing so. Florida could be in for a long season with such a tough schedule.

Colorado might not have a great record but Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter will be must watch TV all year. They should both be top 5 draft picks in 2025 and I think Shedeur is the best QB and Hunter is the best player in the draft.

LSU and USC’s new QBs look good. Kyren Lacy looks like the next great LSU WR. USC’s Zachariah Branch is electric to watch and looks like Tyreek Hill out there. USC WR Kyron Ware-Hudson also looks great and made the potential catch of the year. All told this was the exact type of game you want to see Week 1 between two powerhouse programs. LSU has not won a Week 1 game since their 2019 season, but I respect the fact that they consistently play tough games Week 1 – unlike most other teams in the SEC.

FSU once again struggled against an inferior opponent. DJ U does not look like he can lead them to success and it could be a long season for FSU. Despite the 12 team Playoff their season is probably over. They’d need to win out to have a chance to even make it.

Football is back

Having real football back is the best. This time of year is awesome because we get to have football but the weather is still great. It only last around a month, so enjoy it.

Florida State vs Georgia Tech was as good an opening game as you can have. Two Power 5 schools, including a Top 10 team, playing each other and ending in a last second field goal to produce the first upset of the year is storybook. The whole game was basically a marketing campaign to visit Ireland and now I wanna go there.

This game also highlights why the 12 team expansion is good. FSU would likely have to kiss their season goodbye, but now they are still alive in the playoff race. They probably won’t get there because they do not look very good, but they still have hope.

Another positive consequence of the 12 team playoff is that elite teams will be more likely to play tough non-conference/early season games. Week 1 starts off hot with UNC @ Minnesota on Thursday night; TCU @ Stanford Friday night; 14 Clemson @ 1 Georgia; 8 Penn State @ West Virginia; 19 Miami @ Florida; 7 Notre Dame @ 20 Texas A&M; 23 USC vs 13 LSU Sunday night, and BC @ 10 FSU Monday night.

We are back.

Post Draft Thoughts

So much success in the NFL is based on where you play, especially at quarterback. No matter how much talent you have, a terrible organization, coach, and team can derail a career. Now that we know where the top 6 QBs and a couple other top prospects are playing, below I predict how their careers will turn out.

Caleb Williams:

Going to Chicago has historically been where careers go to die for QBs. However, if one QB can buck that trend, it’s Williams. He is so talented and the fact that his pro comparisons are Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes tells you how good he is. Unlike with Justin Fields, the Bears have actually done a great job of surrounding him with amazing weapons and a solid Oline. How great he will be will come down to how well the coaching staff develops him. Regardless, the Bears history of never having a QB throw for 4,000 yards or 30 TDs will end soon.

I think he will be a really good to great QB in the NFL. He will make multiple Pro Bowls and help the Bears compete in a really tough division. My main apprehension with him is he seems like a diva type player. That’s fine with wide receivers like TO and OBJ, but when it comes to quarterback, that type of personality tends to not work out. Look at guys in the league who are star QBs: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, etc. They are not controversial and outspoken personalities. They always say the right things and are tremendous leaders. I just get the vibe that Caleb will not be a great leader and might causes some issues off the field similar to Kyler Murray and Aaron Rodgers. Once again, I think he’ll be really good to great, but will definitely cause some headaches for the Bears.

Jayden Daniels:

It’s great to see another LSU QB have a massive progression, win the Heisman, and be a top pick in the draft. That shows how great his work ethic is. His athleticism is off the charts and he will be one of the most athletic QBs in the league right away. It’s also reassuring that Daniels put up the numbers he did while playing in the best conference in college. He will be able to make an immediate impact and having an OC like Kliff Kingsbury is also a plus.

My one apprehension with him is that he is not super well built. This is something that can be fixed, but with a terrible Oline and being a guy that runs so much, it could be an issue.

Overall, he has a pretty good group of weapons around him with Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson at WR and Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr at RB. I think he has an average to solid career as a starter, but is not anything special.

Drake Maye:

I have super high hopes for Maye. He was my favorite QB in this draft, so the fact the Pats got him at #3 is a steal in my opinion. He reminds me a lot of Andrew Luck and Justin Herbert in terms of his combination of size, athleticism, and arm talent. He will just have turned 22 at the start of next season and will have time to develop under Jacoby Brissett. He is extremely tough, is a great kid, and played well through some perseverance and tough situations last year.

The biggest question with Maye has nothing to do with him, but the Patriots. First off, they have the worst roster in the league, especially when it comes to Oline and WR. They drafted some wide receivers and offensive lineman after Maye, but they still need to surround him with weapons and guys who can block. Also, how will the coaches develop him? Jerrod Mayo is a defensive coach so it will mainly be the responsibility of Alex Van Pelt, who is relatively unproven.

I believe he will develop into the Patriots franchise quarterback. He has the tools to succeed in New England, with a big frame and big arm that will serve him well in the terrible Foxboro weather. He obviously won’t be Tom Brady, but I think he can be a better version of Drew Bledsoe. He should be a multiple time Pro Bowler and lead the Pats back to contention for years to come.

Michael Penix Jr:

Easily the biggest shocker of the draft. I was initially shocked by what they did, but the Falcons explaining why they did it helped me make more sense of it. I just don’t agree with their reasoning.

Penix is going to be 24 before the season starts and is maybe the most “pro-ready” QB prospect in the draft. But they drafted him to be the developmental, eventual starter. He should have some good weapons around him when he does start, but when will that be?

They owe Kirk Cousins a ton of money and realistically can’t get out of the contact until 2026 when Penix with be 26 himself. Cousins isn’t amazing but he’s a good enough starter who probably won’t play himself out of the position. With all the uncertainty and an odd situation, I think Penix doesn’t end up being a long-term starter in the league.

J.J. McCarthy:

I like McCarthy, but easily think he was the most overrated player this draft. Compared to the other 5 QBs taken, I think he easily was the worst prospect and was benefited by his team more than any of them. With that being said, he is going to basically the perfect situation. He has a really good offensive coach in Kevin O’Connell, the best WR in the league in Justin Jefferson, a top 3 TE in TJ Hockenson, one of the best young WRs in the league in Jordan Addison, and new RB Aaron Jones. They even have a good offensive line. Furthermore, McCarthy can develop behind Sam Darnold if needed.

I think McCarthy will have a career similar to the man he is replacing – Kirk Cousins. His situation is just too good to be a complete bust. I see him putting up solid numbers but not being a guy who can win his team big games and take them far in the playoffs.

Bo Nix:

Nix lands in a spot with a good head coach, but a team that really lacks weapons. He’s accurate and has a ton of experience, but I just don’t think he has that high of a ceiling. Sean Payton has also been very impatient and critical of his QB and team since taking over and I don’t think that’s a great situation for any rookie QB. I think Nix ends up playing a good bit as a rookie, but I don’t think his career will mount to much and he won’t be a long-term starter.

Marvin Harrison Jr.

I think he is the best player in this class and the most exciting by far. Getting to play for a good QB in Kyler is also huge for him. He’ll be a Day 1 starter and should be an absolute stud for years to come.

Brock Bowers:

I think Bowers fits into the Raiders mold well. The biggest question is who is gonna be the QB throwing him the ball and how good will they be. However, he’s so talented that he should make an immediate impact and he has other weapons around him so defenses can’t just key in on him. He should be a long-term starter and make a handful of Pro Bowls.

Other Quick Points

With 6 QBs taken in the first round and all these other amazing offensive players at marquee positions like WR and OT, I think this draft will go down in history as one of the best ever.

The fact that round 1 of the NFL draft had a higher average viewership than last year’s NBA finals once again shows why football is the king of sports in the US.

Xavier Worthy should be a great pick for Chiefs. He fits in so well with Mahomes and that offense. The Chiefs have rebuilt their WR corps into one of the better ones in the league in just one year, showing why they are the dynasty that they are.

It’s still so early, but the Bears – Panthers trade from last year might go down as the worst trade in NFL history. If Bryce Young ends up being a bust, while Caleb is a stud that’s bad enough. But on top of that, the Bears got one of the best WRs in the league, a starting tackle, a starting CB, and still have another 2nd round pick next year. This is something to keep an eye on.

NFL Week 1 and CFB Week 2 Preview

The King returns as the NFL season kicks off. CFB is back for Week 2 with some intriguing non-conference matchups.

CFB

3 Alabama vs 11 Texas

The game of the week between the two biggest brands in college football. After easy opening games, both teams are looking to prove something this week. Bama wants to show it is still dominant and new QB Jalen Milroe is the guy. Texas and Quinn Ewers want to show they are a CFP contender who can make some noise. I think Alabama wins this game, but does not cover (-7) and the under (53.5) hits.

22 Colorado vs Nebraska

This is Colorado’s chance to show last week was not a fluke. They face a team that also has a notable new coach in Matt Rhule, who is trying to return Nebraska to its glory days. Colorado’s offense looks so high powered and I don’t think a Nebraska team that looked flat last week will be able to keep up. Colorado wins, covers (-3), and the under (59) hits.

NFL

Patriots vs. Eagles

The Pats and Eagles square off in a rematch of Super Bowl LII. It’s an opportunity for the Pats to show that a real OC has given them back a real offense. Jalen Hurts and Co. will try to avoid a Super Bowl hangover and show last year wasn’t a fluke. The biggest storyline is the return of Tom Brady to New England. As a Pats fan, it’ll be great to see him back home and getting honored but… is there something more at play? Could they be trying to bring Tom back in some capacity as an emergency player, future exec, or something else? I fucking hope so. Regardless, I think the Eagles win, cover (-4), and the over hits (45).

Jets vs. Bills

Aaron Rodgers makes his debut in the Big Apple. The honeymoon period is officially over and now it’s all about winning games. Unfortunately for Jets fans, the Bills are a better football team with more chemistry. I think the Bills win, cover (-2.5), and the over (45.5) hits.

CFB Week 1 Reaction

Florida at 14 Utah

Utah is simply a better team than Florida. Utah showed their depth with two backup QBs playing well for them and a defense that shut Florida down.

Florida just made too many mistakes and needs to be more disciplined. False starts, bad punts, having two guys with the same number on the field, fielding punts backwards inside the 5. You name something dumb and Florida probably did it. And their mistakes kept coming at crucial times and ultimately sank them.

17 TCU vs. Colorado

I was flat out wrong about Colorado. They completely matched up with TCU and had way more chemistry than I thought they would. I still think they are overhyped, but look to be better than I expected.

Colorado’s Travis Hunter is the real deal. First time I’ve seen him play and he looks like he could play in the NFL on either side of the ball. They just need to ensure they don’t play him too much and run him into the ground.

Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders also looked much better than I thought he would. Threw a great deep ball and would’ve had even better numbers if not for a couple drops.

Colorado RB Dylan Edwards can absolutely fly. It looks he’ll be a great weapon for Coach Prime for years to come.

South Carolina vs. 21 North Carolina

UNC’s defense stepped up big time and shut down a great USC offense. Their pass rush and run defense was exceptional and if they can keep playing this way, UNC has a shot to win the ACC.

UNC QB Drake Maye had a solid start to the year. He wasn’t perfect, but one of his interceptions was not his fault and I think he’ll play much better for the remainder of the season.

This should be a rivalry game that’s played every year. The passion for the border war was great and the winner gets to say they’re the “real Carolina” for the year.

8 FSU vs. 5 LSU

Both teams clearly had jitters in their first game and got off to rocky starts. FSU shook them off and looked like a CFP team. LSU did not. The most surprising thing was how FSU completely bullied LSU and was way more physical than them.

FSU WR Keon Coleman is amazing. He carried FSU to victory and should be a first round pick next year.

Duke vs. 9 Clemson

Wow! The last game of the weekend produces the most shocking upset. Duke to its credit played clutch defense and scored when they needed to, but this game was not as lopsided as the score suggests.

Clemson is a better team than they showed, but they need to figure some things out. Their offense really had no spark and they completely failed to capitalize in the red zone.

Game/Betting Picks

Game Picks this week: 2-3 (4-3 overall)

Spread Picks this week: 3-2 (5-2)

O/U Picks this week: 2-3 (2-5)

CFB Week 1 Predictions

Week 0 was a great warmup, but the big matchups start this week for college football.

14 Utah vs. Florida

This is a better Thursday Night Game than most of the NFL matchups last season. It was an exciting game last year and hopefully, this year will be the same. Florida has a great rushing attack, but I don’t think they’ll be able to go toe to toe with Utah, especially in Salt Lake City. Even with Cam Rising out, I see Utah winning, covering the spread (-4.5), and the over hitting (44).

17 TCU vs. Colorado

Coach Prime’s debut! I think Deion is a great coach and will eventually make Colorado a much better program. However, TCU comes into the game with more momentum from last year than CO and is just flat out better. I think TCU covers the spread (-20.5) and the over hits (59.5).

South Carolina vs. 21 North Carolina

If not for that big game on Sunday night, this would be the game of the weekend. A battle of the Carolinas. Drake Maye vs. Spencer Rattler. North Carolina comes in as the favorite and both teams are led by their great QB and offenses. A lot of people are picking USC to win, but I think UNC wins, covers the spread (-2.5), and the over (63.5) easily hits in what should be a shootout.

8 FSU vs. 5 LSU

GAME. OF. THE. WEEK. Two powerhouses on the rise with CFP hopes. Both teams return great quarterbacks and are loaded with talent. I give the edge to LSU to win and cover (-2.5) mainly due to having the better coach in Brian Kelly. I also think the under hits (57.5).

Duke vs. 9 Clemson

On paper, this may not look like a great game, but Duke won nine games last year and at least should put up a fight. This is the perfect opening game for Clemson as they play a respectable opponent, but one they should beat. I think Clemson wins but doesn’t cover the spread (-13) and the under (55.5) hits.

Other Interesting Things to Look For

I always find it funny how big some spreads are in the first couple weeks of the CFB season when you have CFP contenders going against far inferior opponents. Biggest one I could find is Alabama -39.5 vs. Middle Tennessee which is equal to the smallest over/under: Northwestern vs. Rutgers 39.5. Would you bet on either of those games?