What in the world is going on with college football this season?
Just take a look at the Associated Press Top 25 Poll this week. Army and Navy are undefeated and ranked for the first time in 64 years. The service academies are on a collision course to meet in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 6, before a rematch in the annual Army-Navy clash on Dec. 14 in a regular-season game.
It is far from a certainty, but it’s a distinct possibility, with both heading into the upcoming weekend at 4-0 in conference play. As the old adage goes however, there’s still a lot of football to be played, and at the present time, the AAC race will likely come down to the final weekend of the regular season, with Memphis, North Texas and Tulane still in the mix.
It’s refreshing to see the success that both Army and Navy are enjoying thus far this season, especially when you consider the new world of college football we have been thrust into recently. Neither benefits from the transfer portal and NIL money is not being poured into the programs as an enticement.
The service academies play the game the right way, with football far from being the most important reason why they’re in West Point, Annapolis, or Colorado Springs, the home of the Air Force Academy. The coaches and players are to be commended for their achievements, and thanked for their service.
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COLLEGE GAME IS THRIVING — The sport is enjoying a bit of resurgence and interest when you look at the television ratings, which likely has much to do with just how many upsets are occurring from coast to coast.
New teams are emerging, and many are citing the transfer portal as one reason. There may be changes in the future with legislation of the portal and the
controversial NIL, but those two factors appear to be giving hope to teams that had very little hope of contending in the past. Part of the increased interest in college football is also the advent of the 12-team playoff, which is already getting plenty of notoriety as the so-called experts attempt to predict who’s in and who’s out. Neither Army nor Navy is expected to be among the 12, but with the way things are progressing this season, it’s still anybody’s guess which teams will fill the spots.
For more evidence, just take a peek at the ever-changing AP poll. It’s no real surprise to see unbeatens such as Oregon, Penn State, Miami among the top six teams, but it is eye-opening to see Iowa State, BYU, Indiana, Pittsburgh and the aforementioned service academies still among the undefeated. There are also 13 one-loss teams scattered throughout the poll, lending even more credence that parity is becoming more and more an integral aspect of the college game.
A notable team with a pair of losses is Vanderbilt. The 5-2 Commodores are ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time in more than a decade, but they face another massive challenge Saturday afternoon in Nashville. The Texas Longhorns will be looking to rebound from their home loss to Georgia and enter the fray as an 18.5-point favorite.
Diego Pavia, the Vanderbilt QB who gets the most out of his talent, making him the Pete Rose of college football, and the Commodores will be looking to spring another unlikely and gargantuan-sized upset, but expect the ‘Horns to be ready.
To this observer, having more teams with an opportunity to challenge the traditional powers week in and week out is definitely a positive. With more teams having at least a shot at competing for a national title by reaching the 12-team playoff is certainly not a negative.
It makes the regular season far more interesting than it’s been in years, and that’s fantastic for college football fans.
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SEASON ON THE BRINK FOR UK – After Saturday’s embarrassing performance at Florida, which resulted in a 48-20 beatdown, the Kentucky football team is in real danger of sitting at home during bowl season.
There is little positive news coming out of Lexington after the Cats dropped to 3-4 (1-4 SEC) while suffering their second consecutive loss in what looked to be a lackluster effort. More and more fans are expressing their unhappiness with head coach Mark Stoops as the offense continues to struggle mightily. The Cats thought going into Florida that at least the defense would give them a chance to win in The Swamp. Well, guess again.
The program is stuck with Stoops for the foreseeable future due to his ridiculous $44 million buyout clause if he were to be fired. If another school were to hire Stoops – highly unlikely at this juncture – his buyout would be less than 1/10th of that amount. The blame for these contracts has to be shouldered not only by Mitch Barnhart, the school’s athletic director, but also to the higher-ups who approved the deal.
I realize there’s a lot I don’t understand, and the millions of dollars that is thrown at coaches is just another thing beyond my comprehension.
Kentucky hosts Auburn Saturday night, and despite the Tigers being less than a powerhouse this season, the Cats are just a 3-point favorite as of this writing. UK needs to play with desperation and losing to 2-5 (0-4 SEC) Auburn at home would not only come close to eliminating the Cats from even a minor bowl appearance, it would send the fans into even more of an uproar.
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BEARCATS BOUND FOR BOULDER – A much more intriguing matchup than the one mentioned above will be played late Saturday night and televised on ESPN.
Coach (and former Cincinnati Red) Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes will be hosting the Cincinnati Bearcats with kickoff set for 10:15 p.m. from Folsom Field. Both teams come into the game with identical 5-2 overall records to go with 3-1 marks in the Big 12.
The Cats enter as 5.5-point underdogs of Tuesday afternoon, but if they’re able to slow quarterback Shadeur Sanders and the weapons surrounding him, they have a real shot at the upset in a game that could see the scoreboard light up. UC is this close to going to the Rockies with an undefeated record, but let a late lead slip away to Pittsburgh in a 28-27 defeat at home, and dropped a road shootout to Texas Tech 44-41.
Scott Satterfield, who was basically run out of Louisville before being named the Cincinnati coach, didn’t make a lot of fans happy last year when UC went 3-9, but he deserves credit for turning the team’s fortunes around this season.
To go on the road and knock off “Coach Prime” would be absolutely huge for Satterfield and the Cincinnati program, and for that to happen, the defense will need to step up, and quarterback Brandon Sorsby, running back Corey Kiner and the offense will have to have a big game while limiting mistakes.
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CLASSIC MATCHUP IN FALL CLASSIC – Some folks are less than pleased that the World Series will feature the Dodgers and the Yankees. My rebuttal to that is that you must not be a real baseball fan if you’re unhappy with the pairing. I understand that many fans may have a difficult time picking a team to root for between the two. There are lots of folks who have no real love for either club. On the other hand, enjoying the series for what it will likely provide should be more than enough for a large segment of baseball fans.
It isn’t like the two have met recently either; this is the first time they’ve played each other since 1981. The storied franchises have squared off in the World Series more often than any other pairing (11 times) but it’s still been 43 years. It doesn’t matter if Major League Baseball was hoping for the matchup; fans should merely enjoy it for what it is. There are so many storylines and expect the unexpected over the next week or so. Both teams feature superstars and the drama will be something to behold, with fans waving towels and screaming at the top of their collective lungs with each pitch delivered to the plate.
I empathize with those who bemoan the fact that the two teams have enormous payrolls, but that’s merely a part of MLB that will probably not change anytime soon. That is fodder for an entirely separate column, but when it comes to baseball, just enjoy what is sure to be an exciting and memorable World Series.
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“The stars will be out; the eyeballs will be watching and hopefully we can deliver on a great series.” – Yankees manager (and former Cincinnati Red) Aaron Boone
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“If we would learn what the human race really is at bottom, we need only observe it in election times.” — Mark Twain