The First College Football Playoff Rankings of 2015

CFB Playoff Rankings 1. Clemson 2. LSU 3. Ohio St. 4. Alabama 5. Notre Dame 6. Baylor 7. Mich St. 8. TCU 9. Iowa 10. Florida

— The Sports Brief (@TheSportsBrief) November 4, 2015

Heisman Trophy Finalists

QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
3,783 passing yards, 52 total touchdowns, 2 INTs

RB Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
2,336 rushing yards, 26 touchdowns

WR Amari Cooper, Alabama
115 receptions, 1,656 receiving yards, 14 touchdowns

Great crew, Mariota will win in a landslide, but I like all three guys.

Big Football Weekend in Massachusetts

I'll take Harvard to win (but Yale +12)

And Patriots (-7.5)

I also like Hobart over Ithica (not pictured). 

Wyoming vs. Oregon; Saturday 2pm

Big game.  Huge.  Wyoming doesn't hide from anyone.  They also go to Michigan State later this year.

Do they cover against the Ducks?  44 is the number.  I don't love their chances, but I'll be rooting for him.

Goodluck Cowboys!


UPDATE

Oregon 48

Wyoming 14

Wyoming covers!

Maryland Is More Patriotic Than You

How about these uniforms for Saturday's game?  The lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner are on the shoulder and helmet.  That's also an outline of Fort McHenry on the helmet. The Fort, of course protected Baltimore from the British during the War of 1812. 

Thanks to USA Today for picture and story. 

Bowl Mania!

Only 35 Bowl games.  Get familiar!

(I need a life.... And ACC, Big 12, Mountain West mini-helmets!)

Throwback Thursday: College Football '96 for SEGA

This was one of the great SEGA football games going.  I remember using Ohio State a lot, which is strange because don't like them... at all.  I always rooted for Florida State growing up (big Charlie Ward, Warrick Dunn fan.)  But I played with the Buckeyes.  The reason?  Simple, Eddie George and Terry Glenn were unreal.  And even Bobby Hoying wasn't trash.   Solid backup team was USC, Keyshawn Johnson was a monster and caught everything.  

Great game!  And look, 108 teams!  (Seriously though, that was crazy badass at the time, it took me forever to pick who to play with.)

Bowl Season!

There are now 124 Division 1 (BCS) College Football teams.  And yes that includes UMass.  There are 35 Bowl Games.  And yes that includes the "Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl."  Quick math says that over 56% of teams will play in a Bowl Game.  Quite an achievement for those clubs.

If you are 6-6, you are going to a bowl game, if you are 6-7 like Georgia Tech, but lost in the Conference Championship game, you are still invited.  The Yellow Jackets could very well finish the season 6-8, but they played in a Bowl!

Every year we talk about the ridiculous Bowls that seemingly pop out of no where.  These are all real Bowl Games:

Belk Bowl
GoDaddy.com Bowl 
Pinstripe Bowl 
Potato Bowl 
Beef O'Brady's Bowl 
Little Caesar's Bowl
Military Bowl
Russell Athletic Bowl
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Armed Forces Bowl
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
Heart of Dallas Bowl
Compass Bowl

Even all the good Bowl games have crazy sponsors now that muddle up the name.  I know College Football is all about money (have you seen the conferences lately?), but what an absolute joke and embarrassment these once proud Bowl games have become.

The "good" Bowl games suck this year too for the most part.  With Louisville winning the Big East and Wisconsin winning the Big 10, combined with Northern Illinois somehow getting to play this year's Boise State, Utah, or TCU, the BCS games are crap, outside of Oregon vs. Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl and of course Alabama vs. Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship game.

At least the playoff is next season... Wait, not next season?  Ok the following year.  Great.

-Keefe

Bowl Games Worth Watching

The Bowl Schedule has been out for a few days, but it takes at least that long to truly digest the fact that there are 35 different bowl games. 70 of the 120 Division 1-A teams will play in a bowl. Let that sink in. Quick math says that over 58% of the teams in the country make it to a friggin bowl game. I know that's not new this season, but it doesn't make it any less ridiculous. So with a plethora of 6-6 teams (even a 6-7 UCLA team which got in cause it lost in the Conference Championship game) which games are worth watching this year? Here is the list.

New Mexico Bowl- Wyoming (8-4) vs. Temple (8-4)
December 17, Saturday, 2:00pm ESPN

What the hell? Yes I start with Wyo vs. Temple. The reasons are simple. 1. My Dad went to Wyoming and we don't get to see them on TV very often. 2. It's the first Bowl game of the year. 3. Well, that's it.


Las Vegas Bowl- Boise State (11-1) vs. Arizona State (6-6)
December 22, Thursday, 8:00pm ESPN

Boise State had a real shot at the BCS Title Game this season. The loss to TCU bumped them for that, and little did we know at the time, also knocked from any BCS Bowl, or even one after Christmas! Coach Peterson was outspoken about the BCS, does this mean they beat the balls off the coach-less Sun Devils? I say yes. Also the final college game of one of the great QB's of all time Kellen Moore.


Alamo Bowl- Baylor (9-3) vs. Washington (7-5)
December 29, Thursday, 9:00pm ESPN

My Heisman winner Robert Griffin III leads his Bears against Sophomore QB Keith Price and the Huskies. I say Griffin wins the trophy, plays one last college game, and heads into the 1st round. This is the game for you if you've missed Baylor this year.


Rose Bowl- Oregon (11-2) vs. Wisconsin (11-2)
January 2, Monday, 5:00pm ESPN

It's the Pac-12 Champ vs. the Big 10 Champ. Oregon's high flying offense led by head coach (and New Hampshire native) Chip Kelly square off against Heisman finalist RB Montee Ball and Heisman candidate QB Russell Wilson. Ball will be going for the TD record in this one (although he will have played 3 MORE games than Barry Sanders). Teams like this also make you long for a playoff.


Fiesta Bowl- Oklahoma State (11-1) vs. Stanford (11-1)
January 2, Monday, 8:30pm ESPN

Andrew Luck vs. Brandon Weeden. Toss in the best WR in the nation, OK State's Justin Blackmon and I am in. I also believe the Cowboys should be in the title game vs. LSU. If OSU can blow out Stanford they will definitely garner some 1st place votes (if LSU loses).


Cotton Bowl- Arkansas (10-2) vs. Kansas State (10-2)
January 6, Friday, 8:00pm FOX

It may not be the SEC vs. Big 12 match up that I wanted to see, but it's still pretty intriguing. Conference bragging rights will be on the line.


BCS Championship Game- LSU (13-0) vs. Alabama (11-1)
January 9, Monday, 8:30pm ESPN

I was going to boycott the game, but the fact is, at worst its a match up of 2 of the top 3 teams in the country. I don't like it, but I'll watch. My biggest problems.
-We already saw this game.
-It was 9-6.
-Alabama had their chance.
-There are other deserving teams. (See: Oklahoma State)
-If Bama wins a close game (say by 3) then what?
-You can win a National Championship without winning a Conference Championship?

In summary, I am interested in 7/35 of the Bowls. (20%). And that might be high compared to you.

What about something different, like, oh, I don't know, a PLAYOFF!

8- Team Tournament: (Higher seeds host games until Title Game)

1. LSU
8. Kansas State

4. Stanford
5. Oregon

3. Oklahoma State
6. Arkansas

2. Alabama
7. Boise State

Good Lord! I am in on that! (How bad is KSU, ARK, Boise missing out on this and a Top 5 Bowl Game, brutal.)

WE WANT A PLAYOFF!

-Keefe

Keefe's Heisman Ballot

Believe it or not, I actually DON'T have a Heisman vote. I'm just as surprised as you are. Apparently the Heisman people(?) take The Sports Brief as some kind of "amateur blog." Whatever. If I had a vote this is how my Top 10 would look.

10. Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State
113 receptions (2nd in NCAA), 1,336 yards (7th), 15 TDs (t-3rd)

9. Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin
2,879 yards passing, 31 TD - 3 INT, 191.6 QB Rating (2nd)

8. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
3,507 yards passing, 41 TD (2nd) - 7 INT, 176.8 QB Rating (4th)

7. Tyrann Mathieu, CB/PR, LSU
71 tackles, 2 INT, 1.5 sacks, 2 punt return TDs

6. Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin
1,759 yards rushing (1st), 32 rush TD (1st), 38 total TD (1st)

5. Case Keenum, QB, Houston
5,099 yards passing (1st), 45 TD (1st) - 5 INT, 177.9 QB Rating (3rd)

4. Matt Barkley, QB, USC
3,528 yards passing, 39 TD (3rd) - 7 INT, 161.8 QB Rating (8th)

3. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3,170 yards passing, 35 TD (5th) - 9 INT, 167.5 QB Rating (5th)

2. Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama
1,583 rushing yards (6th), 20 TD (5th) 23 total TD

1. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor
3,998 yards (6th), 36 TD (4th) - 6 INT, 192.3 QB Rating (1st), 644 rushing yards, 9 TD rush


There you have it. The finalists in New York should be Griffin, Richardson, Luck, Barkley. If Houston could have capped off a perfect season I would have invited Keenum, but after losing to Southern Miss, sorry you got to sit home.

Also while we are on the subject of college football, what a joke the bowls are. I mean Virgina Tech is in the Sugar Bowl?? They suck. They lost twice to Clemson and didn't beat a good team ALL season. Meanwhile Boise State, Arkansas, Kansas State, and Baylor are all in weaker (less profitable) bowls. And how about Michigan getting in over Michigan State to a BCS Bowl. Awful. Not to mention I am not looking forward to a rematch of a game that was 9-6 for our National Championship. Sucks.

-Keefe

Keefe's College Football Top 10

The BCS will be released later today, but do you trust it? I don't. Virginia Tech is in the Top 5? Who have they beaten? Seriously. Before next week's Conference Title games and regular season finales, this is how the Top 10 in College Football should look like.

1. LSU (12-0)
2. Alabama (11-1)
3. Oklahoma State (10-1)
4. Oregon (10-2)
5. Stanford (11-1)
6. Boise State (10-1)
7. USC (10-2)
8. Arkansas (10-2)
9. Oklahoma (9-2)
10. Wisconsin (10-2)

It won't look like that, but it should. Also, count me as someone who does NOT want to see an LSU-Bama rematch in the title game, however right now they are the two best teams in the country. I'll be rooting for a Georgia win in the SEC title game over LSU and then absolute chaos.

-Keefe

AND HOW ABOUT THE NBA? More on that to come.

Erin Andrews Gatorade Shower

Baylor knocked off #5 Oklahoma on Saturday night. Robert Griffin III was good, but Erin Andrews getting a Gatorade shower was better.





-Keefe

Penn State Saga

The Penn State situation has gotten completely out of hand. One day after the school cancels Joe Paterno's weekly press conference, he comes out with a statement saying how he is going to retire at the end of the year and that the school should not worry about his status. What? Why does he get to say that? Yeah, you coached for 46 years at the same place, but sorry pal this one is out of your control now, after you let it go without doing anything.

Paterno needs to go, the President of Penn State needs to go, the WR's coach (then an intern or whatever) needs to go, and can the NCAA get involved in this one? If Ohio State and USC can get in all kinds of trouble for tattoos and some money, I think Penn State deserves something, right?

Fire all those who knew about it and did nothing. No bowl games for awhile, (sorry Outback Bowl, which seems to get the Nittany Lions every year). Something tells me that even if the NCAA doesn't do a damn thing, smart and talented high school football players who are getting recruited my multiple schools will see what's going on at Penn State and say, I might go somewhere else. Good.

Former Penn State DT and horrible Lions GM Matt Millen was on SportsCenter yesterday talking about the news coming out about his alma mater. I thought it was pretty good...



-Keefe

Keefe's Jersey Collection

I went home to my parents' house for Week 1 of the NFL Season to watch the Patriots and every other team in the league as they have DirecTV and a free Sunday Ticket preview. I couldn't find my Randy Moss jersey at my place, so I must have left it at my parents'. It was there alright, along with the rest of my ridiculous (in a good way) collection that I must have started in the 1st grade. Here are the jerseys I owned/own.

Basketball:

Dee Brown, Celtics

Michael Jordan, 1992 Olympics

Dan Majerle, 1994 World Championships

Nick Van Exel, Lakers

Jalen Rose, Nuggets

Chris Mullin, Warriors

Latrell Sprewell, Warriors

Marcus Camby, UMass

Charlie Ward, Florida State

Jason Kapono, UCLA

Paul Pierce, Kansas

Paul Pierce, Celtics

Mike Bibby, Arizona

Ray Allen, Bucks

Stephon Marbury, Georgia Tech

Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets

Football:

Dave Meggett, Patriots

David Givens, Patriots

Randy Moss, Patriots

Barry Sanders, Lions

Warrick Dunn, Florida State

Eric Metcalf, Falcons

Randall Cunningham, Eagles

Ricky Watters, Eagles

Greg Lloyd, Steelers

Tim Biakabutuka, Panthers

Terrell Owens, 49ers

Chad Johnson, Bengals

You can really tell a lot about a person from the jerseys they've owned from the ages of 8-20+. I think psychiatrists should start out asking, "What jerseys did you wear when you were younger." If the kid had Jordan, Bulls and Aikman, Cowboys he was a front runner spoiled loser. If he was wearing a Bernard King or Andre Rison he was probably a bonafide badass. Pretty simple stuff.

-Keefe

Jimmy the Greek's Week 7 NFL picks

The Greek is about to head off and work the Northeastern football game. For those of you that haven't been following, The Greek's alma maters, both Northeastern and St. Paul's, are in the midst of seasons of futility. The Huskies are 0-6 and have been outscored 241-70. For those of you keeping score at home, that's an average of about 40-10. In fact they've lost a couple games 54-0 and 56-7 to B.C. and Villanova, respectively. Just awful. But equally as awful have been the Fighting Pelicans of St. Paul's, who stand at 0-4 and have been outscored 101-26, including back-to-back shutouts to start the season. So I'm gonna release a couple lines of my own today...who will lose by a bigger margin? NU plays Hofstra while SPS takes on St. George's. Both games are at their respective home fields, but let's be honest, that won't help anyone. They practically play all road games with the rabid fan bases they're bringing in at home.

In other news, BJal continues to suck at picking games, going back to his losing ways with an embarrassing loss last night. I hope to God he is right with his ND pick today, but I can't handle back-to-back Irish losses, especially the latter to B.C. But let's face it, BJal picking your favorite team is like the kiss of death.

Onto The Greek's Week 7 NFL picks...I'm just giving you the picks this week, no breakdowns. As always, lines are courtesy of the elder Greek's office pool on CBS Sports...

Vikings (+4.5) over Steelers
49ers (+3.5) over Texans
Chargers (-4.5) over Chiefs
Colts (-13.5) over Rams
Pats (-14.5) over Bucs
Packers (-6.5) over Browns
Jets (-6.5) over Raiders
Panthers (-6.5) over Bills
Falcons (+3.5) over Cowboys
Dolphins (+6.5) over Saints
Bears (+1.5) over Bengals
Cardinals (+6.5) over Giants
Eagles (-7.5) over Redskins

-The Greek

BJal's Lock du Jour - Saturday, October 17

I've been waiting for today for 2 weeks. Notre Dame-USC at 3:30. As a lot of you have probably figured out by now, there's one team we watch in this house and that's Notre Dame football. Today's game is absolutely huge for several reasons. The Irish haven't beaten USC in 7 years, and most of them haven't been close. There was the Bush Push game a few years back which derailed the Irish's title hopes, and today, Charlie Weis needs this win.

With an impressive victory, the #25 Irish will springboard up the rankings just in time for the BCS standings tomorrow night. The Michigan road victory hurt, especially since the Wolverines are playing like a Pop Warner team now, but there are still a few solid wins down the road that look more enticing than they did at the beginning of the season. Pitt took down Rutgers last night to move to 6-1, their lone loss on the road at NC State, which isn't good, but isn't the end of the world. There's the annual BC game, which is a must win against a decent ACC school, and Stanford at the end of the road, a team on the cusp of the top 25.

But this morning I almost threw up when BJal texted me and said his lock of the day is Notre Dame (+10). How could he do this to me? He's lost 3 in a row and is 4-7 overall now. He's like William H. Macy in the cooler. It's awful. Worse than coming down with the bubonic plague. So now I'm telling myself that he's lost 3 in a row and is due for a win, so hopefully ND covers AND wins outright. Can't wait.

BJal's Lock du Jour: Notre Dame +10 over USC
Overall: 4-7

-Bess

BJal's Lock du Jour - Saturday, October 10

Welp, I guess sometimes people just get lucky. That's my only reaction after seeing Nevada paste Louisiana Tech 37-14. I honestly started to wonder if BJal would get a lock of the day right, and by god he's done it. To quote the immortal Joe Castiglione, "Can you believe it?!?!"

So today he looks to make it two in a row, and he's going with Virginia Tech (-13.5) hosting Boston College. Last night I told him I thought this game had upset written all over it, I was half in the bag and now I've had a chance to sleep it off, gather my sober thoughts and clearly assess what I think will happen. This game is probably going to be an absolute blowout. B.C. lost to a pedestrian Clemson team 25-7 on the road a few weeks ago, and they struggled at home against very mediocre ACC teams in Wake Forest and Florida State. I don't even know if B.C. will manage to score. This could be a shutout.

In other news, the Red Sox suck and the Yankees will win the World Series. My buddy Kevin put it best last night while we were watching the game...if A-Rod is going to go and do stuff like he did last night - hitting a 700ft moonshot off Joe Nathan in the 9th inning to tie a playoff game - there's no way the Yankees don't win the World Series. In fact, it wouldn't shock me if they just rolled through the rest of the postseason undefeated. This team is scary good, and when one of the best hitters in baseball, with a track record of failing in the postseason, decides to heat up...wow.

Jimmy the Greek will have his Week 5 NFL picks for you by tomorrow morning, so call you bookie and let him know to be on call. Also, I'll be posting postseason awards in the next few days. We had a healthy arguement last night about who should win the AL MVP. I completely disagree with the rest of the world, who thinks Joe Mauer is the easy, sexy pick. So for my awards, I'll break it down by who will win and who I think should win.

-Bess

BJal's Lock du Jour - Friday, October 9

Last night's Missouri loss, at home against Nebraska, ran the season record to 0-3. At this point you have to wonder if BJal could even pick his nose. This is getting bad. Vegas is about to run out odds as to whether BJal will lose more picks in a row than the Lions did games. Could he possibly do it? I almost feel like he should make his pick, then do the complete opposite. Maybe BJal should syndicate this column across all the major papers, websites and betting prognosticators. Once he makes his pick, hardcore gamblers from afar would flock to the casinos or call their bookies and bet their kid's college fund on exact opposite of what he picked with the utmost confidence. I thought about taking up gambling again a few nights ago when he started this. I'd probably be out of debt by now. Instead, I'm sitting here trying to figure when I can make the next payment on my college loan.

But thus, without further ado, Bjal's pick for tonight is Nevada giving up 10.5 to Louisiana Tech. Nevada is 1-3 and I know them for getting shutout and demolished by my Irish back in early September. I know nothing about La Tech except a kid from there transferred to Northeastern a few years ago to play quarterback. They hyped him up like the kid never had to take a shit, and then he threw three picks in the spring game and never saw the field. He transferred out that same year. And they wonder why NU won't win a game this year. It's because they bring in losers like that.

BJal's Lock du Jour: Nevada (-10.5)
Overall record: 0-3

BJal's Lock du Jour - Thursday, October 8

Here's something you can bet on: what gets canceled faster - Michael Strahan's new sitcom or BJal's Lock du Jour?

The Dodgers took down NH native Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals, running BJal's impressive total to 0-2. Not good. I'd write more about this, but a) I'm disgusted with BJal and b) I have a 9am meeting at work and need to leave.

But for tonight, BJal will again try and get on the winning track, taking #24 Missouri (+3) against #21 Nebraska in a college football game. I think it's probably the right pick, considering the game is in Missouri. This game is tough to pick, however, because neither team has played anyone of meaning aside from the Cornhuskers 16-15 loss at Virginia Tech. That tells me this team is competitive, and I'd probably take them if the game was at home, but this has push written all over it.

Only time will tell, but I'm actually rooting for BJal tonight. His confidence must be waning.

BJal's Lock du Jour: Missouri (+3) v. Nebraska
Overall: 0-2

-Bess

BJal's Lock du Jour

So I was driving home today when I got a text from my buddy BJal. Some of you may recognize his name, as he's contributed to TSB before. I'll preface this by saying that BJal has what some may call a gambling problem, but we choose to call a passion for betting on sports. He'll bet on an obscure soccer game at 1pm just because it'll be on ESPN2 while he's at work. You can't make this stuff up, but it makes for a good story.

Which leads me back to the text from BJal today. He asked if he could post a daily "Lock of the Day". I actually liked the idea for a couple reasons. First off, it gives him something to do. Second, it allows me to track his gambling success rate. And thrice, it gives you, the readers, more material to read and enjoy. I talked with Keefe and we both said yea, what the hell we'll do it.



And thus, much like a restaurant serves up a "World's best cup of coffee" or "Award winning clam chowder", we'll try and pawn off his addiction as a legitimate daily betting tip.

BJal doesn't like the odds for Brad Pitt and the men of Troy. Is he full of shit?

Starting tonight, you will be treated to a daily (or more or less daily) segment called BJal's Lock du Jour. We'll track his record every day as he gambles on one pick per night, any sport, any game. And in typical BJal fashion, he's opening up with a real douzy...this more or less sums up who the guy is. Tomorrow night on ESPN2 we'll be treated to a riveting college football game between Troy and Middle Tennessee State. I know nothing about these teams except what I just looked up: both teams are 1-0 in Sun Belt Conference play; MTSU (3-1) lost its opener at Clemson 37-14 but stunned Maryland 32-31 a couple weeks ago; Troy is a very uninteresting football team.

That being said, BJal's inaugural Lock du Jour is Middle Tennessee State (+6). Let's see if he can start out on a good note. Enjoy the game and hopefully this segment.

-Bess