2020 Miscellaneous College Football News

[LouisEly]

Badgers not the only ones cancelling games because of COVID-19. North Texas/LA Tech, NavyTulsa, Army/Air Force, and Washington/Cal all getting cancelled this weekend.

[PeaveyFury]

I wonder if Nebraska is glad about their insistence to play football this fall. Curious if their team actually plans to start playing at some point...

[homer]

The B1G is a one giant mess of weirdness. Maryland loses to Northwestern by 40 - is up on PSU by 28, MSU beats Michigan - loses to Iowa by 42, IU beats PSU and Michigan...

 

So is Michigan the worst team in the conference? Maybe its Minnesota? Although they are beating Illinois 28 - 7 so maybe it's Illinois.

[wildcat83]

Clemson and Notre Dame put on a show. One of the more entertaining regular season games in recent memory. Crazy to see a field storming during a pandemic. If I’m Notre Dame I’m getting my players off the field ASAP and into showers. Hate to see a big win like that followed by a shut down.

[nodakfan17]

Was it really that big of a win if Clemson didn’t have Trevor Lawrence? I feel bad for Clemson. They could probably win most ACC games without him, but last night’s game was the one Lawrence couldn’t afford to miss. I wonder if the Playoff committee takes that into consideration? Either way, I think everyone is prepared to accept some inequities this season. I hope the Playoff committee takes the stupidity of Notre Dame fans into consideration when breaking ties. That’s inexcusable.

[tmwiese55]

Yes that was a great game, well played and entertaining. I'd guess Clemson gets a pass on this by the committee as long as they win everything else easily. They went to OT on road vs another top team while missing the MVP of CFB. If I remember correctly they could play ND in the conf title game too (it's weird year so I could be wrong) so it would really just come down to that game.

 

Still a big win for ND as it keeps them alive. I saw today they were told pre game to get off the field asap if they won as they knew the rush would happen, not sure how well they succeeded though. However, keep in mind ND already had an outbreak of some kind early in the year. So in theory they might be a bit less susceptible than other teams in that situation.

 

Hopefully UW can get back at this week. Michigan has looked so bad that it should be a win but we also don't know who will all be out for UW even if they do play. Frankly, IMO the rest of the B1G has looked really bad so far other than OSU. Eye test to me would probably be OSU, big gap, UW, big gap, then everyone else. That said, we have no idea what UW looks like after this now. They could fall into the blahness of everyone else too now. Cool to see IU doing well though.

[young guns]

Was it really that big of a win if Clemson didn’t have Trevor Lawrence? I feel bad for Clemson. They could probably win most ACC games without him, but last night’s game was the one Lawrence couldn’t afford to miss. I wonder if the Playoff committee takes that into consideration? Either way, I think everyone is prepared to accept some inequities this season. I hope the Playoff committee takes the stupidity of Notre Dame fans into consideration when breaking ties. That’s inexcusable.

They've done it before. Heck I think even for Clemson. I believe they lost to Pitt a few years ago and got a break on that, I think it was the same year us and Miami were undefeated late but ranked really low. Plus Clemson should get a **** at revenge in the acc championship game.

[Samurai Bucky]

Remember -- the Badgers were supposed to play the Irish at Lambeau this year. Damn COVID...

[CheezWizHed]

Remember -- the Badgers were supposed to play the Irish at Lambeau this year. Damn COVID...

 

Since the Irish didn't show up, doesn't it make that a forfeit?

[wildcat83]

Have any schools come out and said if they will allow seniors to stay for the extra year? I know the NCAA ruled that this season does not count towards eligibility, but I can't imagine that colleges can afford to keep a large chunk of their seniors and still give out the full amount of scholarships to incoming freshmen.

 

The Badgers declined to bring back their winter seniors from last season, but will be curious to see how it's handled in a sport like football that the success of the program is pretty directly linked to income. They are not very senior heavy this year, but there are a few that probably won't be drafted that would sure help next season.

[PeaveyFury]

I love that Minnesota is horrid this year.....

[Fear The Chorizo]

I love that Minnesota is horrid this year.....

 

That PJ Fleck contract looks better and better as a badger fan every day.

[CheezWizHed]

He seems like a really great human, but he can't seem to turn the program around, thankfully. I think the state of Minnesota just can't football.

[stoutdude04]

He seems like a really great human, but he can't seem to turn the program around, thankfully. I think the state of Minnesota just can't football.

 

I actually think he seems like a conceded dude. Just the vibe I get.

[CheezWizHed]

Yeah, when he talks football, he is massively confident even when nothing backs it up. But during Covid, there have been a lot of other stories come out about the human side. He is a huge "player coach" and works a lot with his players and even some fans outside the game with personal struggles. And given the reaction people have to him that he has helped, I don't think it's just a public ruse.

[homer]

I said at the time that building a program up is one thing, maintaining it at that level is another. You can't use the "us against the world" line every day and get the same effect.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Yeah, when he talks football, he is massively confident even when nothing backs it up. But during Covid, there have been a lot of other stories come out about the human side. He is a huge "player coach" and works a lot with his players and even some fans outside the game with personal struggles. And given the reaction people have to him that he has helped, I don't think it's just a public ruse.

 

That off-field stuff is great and all, but aside from one year that was blessed with a crazy easy schedule, MN has been consistently terrible on the field during the Fleck era. Those type of results for player coaches lead to them making an involuntary career change. They lost a lot defensively from their team last year, and the cupboard has proven to be bare behind it this season despite plenty of time to recruit talent while it was on PJ to recruit.

[owbc]

It's hard to make sense of the Big Ten this year. Ohio State must be laughing at all the mediocrity. We'll see if Wisconsin joins them after today.

[LouisEly]

I love that Minnesota is horrid this year.....

Seeing Penn State at 0-4 is a close second.

[nodakfan17]

CBS Sports has an article posted today that suggested we might see more coaches jump from college to the NFL this year strictly for the financial guarantees. I guess pro teams are more likely to press on in the face of public health issues, whereas college teams have to pretend like it’s not all about money.

[yourout]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30313382/iowa-hawkeyes-uses-3-outs-final-seconds-rout-minnesota-golden-gophers%3fplatform=amp

 

Sounds like Ferenz and Fleck will not be exchanging Christmas cards this year.

[tmwiese55]

Yeah, when he talks football, he is massively confident even when nothing backs it up. But during Covid, there have been a lot of other stories come out about the human side. He is a huge "player coach" and works a lot with his players and even some fans outside the game with personal struggles. And given the reaction people have to him that he has helped, I don't think it's just a public ruse.

 

That off-field stuff is great and all, but aside from one year that was blessed with a crazy easy schedule, MN has been consistently terrible on the field during the Fleck era. Those type of results for player coaches lead to them making an involuntary career change. They lost a lot defensively from their team last year, and the cupboard has proven to be bare behind it this season despite plenty of time to recruit talent while it was on PJ to recruit.

 

And don't forget not only was the schedule easy they also got very lucky in like 3-4 games early in the year they really should have lost. Lose just two of them and then you're looking like a normal 7-5ish type year for MN.

 

That said, I witnessed that stomping MN gave at UW two years ago. Probably the worst home game I remember witnessing. Have to give credit for that and that was a huge improvement statement for them to break that streak. I think he can get them to be consistently descent, say on the Iowa type level. That's a very realistic and doable goal for them. Thing is I think he'll be looking to jump to a better job first chance he gets.

[homer]

I think Indiana is going to get a heavy dose of reality next Saturday.

[owbc]

Running the table and a non-embarrassing loss to OSU should be enough to get Wisconsin in the playoff. I would love to get a shot at Notre Dame this year after all.

[MadThinker88]

Running the table and a non-embarrassing loss to OSU should be enough to get Wisconsin in the playoff. I would love to get a shot at Notre Dame this year after all.

 

I disagree. Too many programs having a down year in the conference.

Barring all the other contenders having 2 losses, I don't see ANY B1G 10 team that isn't undefeated making the playoff.

 

Here is how I "see" it:

Undefeated SEC Champ (Alabama)

Undefeated B1G 10 Champ (pick 1 of the remaining 2 undefeated after this weekend)

 

After that...

Assuming an ACC rematch going for Clemson this time around, then 1 loss ND & 1 loss Clemson both make it..

IF ND wins the rematch in ACC title game vs Clemson, ND goes to the playoff along with 1 of the other undefeated clubs (Cinci or BYU)..