Random Thoughts 15: Crowns and Crybabies

For Championship Weekend, nine conferences crowned their champions. Little did anyone know, much more drama was coming on Sunday.

After the College Football Playoff Committee released the final rankings that made up the bracket, the temper tantrums started. Beginning with the King of Crybabies, Notre Dame.

Poor little babies with their weak-ass schedule didn’t get invited to the Prom, so they are going to take their ball and go home. The Fighting Irish are blaming the ACC for pushing Miami-FL over them are likely to sue to get out of their contract.

Iowa State and Kansas State bitched out on bowls as well because – get this – their coaches were leaving. K-State’s retired while ISU’s took another job. How is that so devastating that a team does not want to play in a bowl? When did this generation become a bunch of weenie quitters?

The quitting didn’t stop there. With those teams bowing out, the next in line were the 5-7 teams with the highest academic progress rates. Center Florida and and Baylor, both had an opportunity to play on, but spurned offers. Auburn, Florida State, Baylor, Kansas, Rutgers and Temple all with 5-7 records chickened out as well. Finally, App State stood up to the plate and accepted the Birmingham Bowl invitation against hated rival Georgia Southern. Rice is another team that enjoys playing football. The Owls will face Texas State in Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas. Finally, Mississippi State will meet Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

These little conniption fits are so stupid. They are missing out on going to a new city, go see the sights, get some swag, and for Pete’s SAKE! you get to play some more football! Why would any player not want to do that? Do the player realize what they are doing to others? All the support staff, band, cheerleaders, etc. who worked so hard all season – mostly with no reimbursement – are missing out on some fun times. But perhaps more important is that these childish programs are missing out on several additional weeks of practices with veterans as well as newly signed freshman.

Georgia 28 Alabama 7 – The Alabama offensive line stunk. Ty Simpson looked rattled and confused. Receivers dropped passes, running back were nonexistent, and special teams had their share of derps. Other than that, it was a pretty good showing for the Tide.

Indiana 13 Ohio State 10 – After the Hoosiers scored a touchdown to go up 3 with 8 minutes left in the third quarter, the Buckets drove down to the five yard line and went for it on 4th & 1. Julian Sayin snuck in for a first down. Or did he? Nope, said the replay official and he was right. It was a crucial turnover on downs for the Buckles. Following a 5+ minute series, Indy punted and anOhio State had one more drive in them. They traveled 81 yards down to the Hoos’ 9 yard line. This time, coach Ryan Day decided to go for the 27 yard field goal from almost the same spot and missed.

Do you know what would have been really cool? If Alabama had played Purdue in Game 12 instead of Auburn.

Duke 27 Virginia 20 (OT) – With Duke up 20-10 in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers mounted two late scoring drives with the second being a tying touchdown with 22 seconds to go in regulation. In overtime, the Blue Devils ran the ball right down UVa’s throats for a TD. For the Wahoos possession, they opted for some cutesy dippity-doo on the first play that blew up in their faces with a game ending interception.

Texa$ Tech 34 BYU 7 – The Cougars marched 90 yards down the field for an opening possession touchdown. I suppose they did not realize that there was another 50 minutes to play. Have you ever seen when a cat corners a mouse and just bats him around for awhile. Yeah. That is what this was.

THE LITTLE GUYS

MAC Championship Game:
Western Michigan 23 Miami-OH 13 – How about Lance Taylor? In just his third year leading WMU, the Alabama native and former Crimson Tide walk-on WR has led the Broncos to the fourth 9-win season with a chance for the first 10-win season in program history going back to 1906. It is WMU’s first MAC championship since 2016 and just the fourth conference title of all time.

AAC Championship Game:
Tulane 34 North Texas 21 – The Mean Green was all about the derps on Friday night. UNT committed 5 costly turnovers with three of them leading to touchdowns. They included a fumble, a punted ball hitting a receiver’s blocker, and three picks with one returned for a touchdown*.

The first turnover of the game was a costly one for North Texas. Running back Caleb Hawkins was hammered early in the second quarter and lost the ball. More importantly, the 1,200 yard rusher and FBS leader in touchdowns this season (23) was knocked out of the game.

SUN BELT Championship Game:
James Madison 31 Troy 14 – This one was 17-14 entering the final frame. Following a long drive for a JMU touchdown, Troy got the ball back but a strip-scoop-and-score pushed the Dukes lead to a daunting 31-14 advantage that the Trojans could not overcome.

C-USA Championship Game:
Kennesaw 19 Jacksonville State 15 – KSU quarterback Amari Odom converted a 4th & 14 and got another 15 yards on a foolish hit out of bounds by two JSU defenders that set them up for the game-winning touchdown on the next play.

Jerry Mack took over a 2-win Owls team and turned them into a 10-3 C-USA Conference Champion. Remarkable job.

^{The flag ↑↑↑ was on UNLV.}

MWC Championship Game:
Boise 38 UNLV 21 – Amazing how it looked like the Smurfs (9-4) were dead a few weeks ago and they still come back to win the MWC. But it will be their last title in that conference for awhile. It’s off to the reborn PAC-12 in 2026.

THIS IS HOW TO TALK TO REFS

DISS OF THE WEEK?

OH, MARK

Please don’t tell me Greg McElroy is rubbing off on you.

YOUR HEISMAN WINNER

At first look, you may think this was not his fault. However, he never should have thrown this ball. How did he not see that red blur racing towards the intentional receiver? 15/23 for 222 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, sacked 3 times, -3 yds rush

HEISMAN RUNNER-UP

Throw into traffic and see what happens. 21/29 258 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, sacked 5 times, -29 yds rushing

YA THINK THE C-USA WANTED JMU TO WIN?

Before this game began, an announcement was made that anyone who throws a snowball would be ejected. After Dukes fans threw snowballs iceballs at the Troy punter with the score 0-0, he shanked it and set JMU up for a field goal. They already had a warning. This should have been a penalty. But, no. Gotta protect JMU.

YA THINK THE ACC WANTED UVA TO WIN?

You may want to mute this video before watching.

Ignore stupid Greg McElroy’s mistaken “obviously forced out” commentary.

UVa WR Eli Wood went out of bounds and then came back in bounds to catch this game-tying TD right in front of the referee who threw his hat signifying this act of going out. The rule says that he has to re-establish himself back in the field of play. Was that enough to re-establish? Wood does not truly step back on the field until his foot hits the two yard line marker, a split second before the ball arrives. There was no flag and no huddle up to talk by the officials.

YA THINK THE B1G WANTED INDY TO WIN TO SECURE THE TOP 2 SPOTS?

My gawd. That is a felony in most states.

YA THINK THE AAC WANTED TULANE TO WIN?

FUMBLE OF THE WEEK

No need for a review of that one.

CATCH OF THE WEEK

BLOWN COVERAGE OF THE WEEK

TWO POINTER OF THE WEEK

LIFE CHOICE OF THE WEEK

“When I doesn’t work, I always regret it.” Ryan Day on the missed field goal, and going for it on 4th & 2 at the end of the third quarter.

COLD TAKE OF THE WEEK

Note the date on this Tweet.

WAS IT GOOD?

Viewers did not get any good replays, so we’ll probably never know. It sure looked “no good”.

BEST FAKE PUNT OF THE WEEK

WORST FAKE PUNT OF THE WEEK

WORST EXTRA POINT ATTEMPT OF THE WEEK

I’D LIKE TO REPORT A MURDER

I’D LIKE TO REPORT A MURDER, Part Deux

TOO MUCH MONEY OF THE WEEK

My lawd. How F’d up is this world where a guy has that kind of money to throw at college sports? I wonder if firing that weirdo Jonathan Smith was a stipulation.

MARK EMMERT MEMORIAL FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT OF THE WEEK

Punk b*tch Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos had a waiver for an extra season of collegiate eligibility denied by the NCAA. It was based on the baseless argument that he surpassed “the 30% threshold by just one postseason game” – in other words, a fifth game for Center Florida in 2022. Was the four-game redshirt rule too hard for him to understand? If I am the NCAA, I am calling former Center Florida coach Gus Malzahn and former OC Chip Lindsey to testify that it was explained to players. So, of course, he is suing the NCAA. I recently exceeded the speed limit by just 20 MPH, but the police officer still wrote me a ticket. I am hoping this guy represents me in a court of law.

OLD COOT OF THE WEEK

Iowa senior citizen Kirk Ferentz, the nation’s longest-tenured coach in the FBS, will return in 2026 for a 28th season with the Hawkeyes. He promises to have more 15-12 games than ever before. He turns 71 on August 1.

NAME OF THE WEEK

Pitt DL Denim Cook. I like my jeans medium rare please.

STATS OF THE WEEK

• JMU running back Wayne Knight didn’t mail it in this time. He amassed 212 yards on 21 carries against Troy. The Trojans had -26 rushing yards as as team.
• North Texas QB Drew Mestemaker was the only QB to top 4,000 yards this season. He put up 4,129 yards.
• San Jose Canseco State WR Danny Scudero topped the receiving yards with 1,291 – AND HE DIDN’T EVEN GO TO anOHIO STATE!!
• La Tech’s Jakari Foster led FBS with 7 interceptions.

THE WACKY WORLD OF CORSO BAMA-HATERS

College GameDay was in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game, and why change things with guest pickers now?? Despite Alabama being the home team, GameDay again insulted the Tide with a non-athlete from another sport who attended UGA in Ernie Johnson Jr. from Inside the NBA (which is neither college nor football). The Carolina Panthers were off this week and former Heisman winner Bryce Young was probably available. But, no.

BTW, Ernie Jr. seems like a nice guy and all, but he owes his whole career to nepotism. His Dad was a long-time Braves announcer for TBS.

Lane Kiffin was supposed to appear on GameDay but chickened out at the last second. I am sure most of the GD panel would have asked him softball questions, but I think Rece Davis would have gotten tough on him.

I generally believe Nick Saban would make an excellent CFB Commissioner. But his recent defenses of Kiffin has me leery. What do you think?

Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff did not have a show and the world kept turning.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• Georgia Tech (9-3) – The Yeller Jackets meet BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec 27.
• Western Michigan (9-4) – The Broncos take on Kennesaw in the Myrtle Beach Bowl Dec 19.
• Southern Miss (7-5) – The Golden Eagles will face WKU in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec 23.

COUSINS

• Troy (8-5) – The Trojans fell to James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference title game, but it has been a vast improvement from the 4–8 effort last season. Troy will now face Jacksonville State in the Veterans Bowl on Dec 16.
• Jacksonville State (8-5) – The Gamecocks lost to Kennesaw in the C-USA Championship Game. It was a good first season for former Tide/Saban assistant Charles Kelly.
• South Alabama (4-8) – The Jags signed 22 recruits to their Class of 2026 for the 78th ranked class – better than Penn State – and 4th best in the Sun Belt.

THAT ANNOYING GUY WHO THROWS CIGARETTE BUTTS IN THE RECYCLING BIN

• UAB (4-8) – Alex Mortensen’s six game audition was enough to convince the Dragons to give him the job full time. The highlight of 2025 for him was his debut game, an upset of Memphis. His team lost the next four but it was a tough slate at 9-win UConn, at Rice, North Texas, and South Florida – all bowl teams. Bham U wrapped the season with a short-handed win at Tulsa.

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

• Navy (9-2) hosts Army (6-5) on Saturday, Dec 13 at 2pm/3pm on CBS. Winner takes the Commander In Chief Trophy.
• Air Force (4-8) – The Falcons suffered their second straight losing season. Longtime head coach Troy Calhoun, 59, trails only Kirk Ferentz (27 seasons at Iowa) and Kyle Whittingham ( 21 at Utah) in longevity at the current school with 18. Is it time for a change?

ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF CONTENTION

Eliminated: Washington State, Oregon State, Boston College, Cal, Clemson, FSU, Georgia Tech, Louisville, UNC, NC State, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Pitt, Arizona State, Arizona, Baylor, Center Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Sparty, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Southern Cal, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Miss State, Mizz, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tejas, BYU, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Duke, Utah, NOTRE DAME!!!!

In: Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texa$ Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Miami-FL, Alabama, Oklahoma

Stupidly In: JMU, Tulane

A way WAY WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture

THE 2

• SEC – Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama
• Big Ten – Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon

SECOND 2

• Big 12 – Texa$ Tech,
• ACC – Miami-FL

AT LARGE

• Indies – NONE lol

PARTICIPATION TROPHY

^{This post was from Friday.}

We’ve been saying it ever since this silly participation B.S. was introduced. Just give us the best 12.

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

Most College Football Playoff Appearances: 

1. Alabama: 9 appearances (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025).
2. Clemson: 7 appearances (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024).
3. Ohio State: 7 appearances (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025).
4. Georgia: 5 appearances (2017, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025).
5. Oklahoma: 5 appearances (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2025)

LET’S GO BOWLING!

• Big Ten: 12 teams
• SEC: 11
• ACC: 11
• Sun Belt: 10
• AAC: 9
• Big 12: 8
• C-USA: 7
• MWC: 7
• MAC: 5
• PAC 2: Washington State
• Indie: UConn

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to the SNOWFLAKES of Kansas State who voted to not play in a bowl game because coach Chris Klieman decided to retire. Are you serious? What a bunch of wussies. They are being PAID to play the game they love and they don’t want to play in what will be the last game ever for some of their teammates just because daddy figure is heading off to the lake to sit on the dock and watch the ducks s**t on the lawn??

Krazy Kristi Follow Up:

The Josh Pate Phenomena has officially become the Josh Pate Cult. Don’t believe me? Bros were plunking down as much as $72 + $14 service fee per ticket to watch a fellow bro talk about college football.

Another Pate idiosyncrasy is his odd routine of wearing “home” plain white t-shirts in his studio and “away” plain black t-shirts when he is on site somewhere. Am I the only one who sees how weird this is?

HEISMAN HYPE

The 2025 Heisman Trophy finalists have been announced and it’s pretty obvious how they will finish:

1. QB Fernando Mendoza (Indiana)
2. QB Julian Sayin (anOhio State)
3. QB Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt)
4. RB Jeremiyah Love (Quitter)

The winner will be announced during a televised ceremony on Saturday, December 13, at 7pm CT/8pm ET. Though there is no reason to watch.

NON-QUIT REPORT

• Cal star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will return to Cal for the 2026 season. This is a good thing for college football.

LAME TRAIN

Lane Kiffin has been getting ripped from all directions. And rightfully so. This ego-maniac attempted to deflect blame onto everyone from the Ole Miss administrators to “God’s will” for his ungraceful exit from Mississippi.

He straight up lied that the OM players wanted him to guide the team through the playoff but the mean ol’ AD refused. Starting center Brycen Sanders and All-SEC LB Suntarine Perkins (above) called Kiffin out on Twitter on that nonsense. Then he tried to hide behind his adorable dog – a ploy he cribbed from Kirk Herbstreit – to elicit sympathy.

Ole Miss AD Keith Carter refuted Kiffin’s exit story:

“There’s been a lot of things he’s said publicly that I’m not sure have been totally accurate,” Carter said. “I think that both coach and his representation knew several weeks ago that coaching in the playoffs was not an option if he was not going to be the Ole Miss head coach.”

…I don’t think the way that he portrayed that meeting was accurate,” Carter said. “There was a lot of pushback to him leaving … I think begging for him to stay is certainly an overstatement.”

DRAMARAMA

• Gee. I wonder if somehow Deion Sanders’s $10M salary and foolishly spending on the Transfer Portal has something to do with this.
• The SEC presidents voted to increase the number of maximum scholarships available to football rosters from 85 to 105. As part of the House settlement, schools are permitted to increase scholarships to 105 in football, but the SEC last year remained at 85. Are there any successful hedge fund managers out there that are Alabama fans?
• The University of Georgia athletic department has made a monumental move of seeking $390,000 from former defensive end Damon Wilson, claiming his transfer to Missouri terminated his name, image and likeness agreement with the Bulldogs’ collective. UGA is looking to go to arbitration in this case. The outcome could set a precedence for all other such cases, present or future. It’s about time!

KOACHES KORNER

^{Yeah, it was.}↑↑↑

• Coaching changes:
  • Arkansas > Ryan Silverfield
  • Auburn > Alex Golesh
  • Cal > Tosh Lupoi
  • Coastal Carolina – open
  • Colorado State > Jim Mora, The Younger
  • Florida > Jon Sumrall
  • JMU – Billy Napier
  • K-State > Collin Klein
  • Kent State > Mark Carney
  • Kentucky > Will Stein
  • LSU > Lane Kiffin
  • Memphis – Charles Huff
  • Michigan State > Pat Fitzgerald
  • North Texas > Neal Brown
  • Oklahoma State > Eric Morris
  • Ole Miss > Pete Golding
  • Oregon State > JaMarcus Shephard
  • Penn State > Matt Campbell
  • South Florida > Brian Hartline
  • Southern Miss – NEW
  • Stanford > Tavita Pritchard
  • Toledo – NEW
  • Tulane – Will Hall
  • UAB – Alex Mortensen
  • UCLA – Bob Chesney
  • UConn – Jason Candle
  • Virginia Tech > James Franklin
  • Washington State – NEW

^{Jimmy Sexton file photo}

• After a big public miss on Kalani Sitake, Penn State made the shocking move of prying Matt Campbell away from Iowa State. It seemed like every time a big-time coaching spot came open, all the blabbermouths were frothing at the mouth for the replacement to be Campbell. But such a move would never happened. This time, nobody was touting Campbell as the next Brittany Lion coach and lo and behold this bombshell. PSU signed all of two recruits on Signing Day. Look for Campbell to loot the ISU roster beginning with quarterback Rocco Becht.
• Former interim coach Terry Smith has agreed to a 4-year deal to stick around Happy Valley as an assistant – most likely to quell any potential player revolt.
• The Cyclones must have gotten a head’s up on the Campbell move, because they swiftly hired Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers. Wazzu went 6-6 in his one season in Pullman. Prior to that, Rogers led South Dakota State to a FCS Championship in is first season as a head coach in 2023, and a semfinals appearance in 2024.
• Back to Sitake for a moment: After turning down Penn State, BYU rewarded him with a big fat long-term extension. It would have been an odd pairing between coach and program, and it never seemed like Sitake even wanted to leave Provo. All this makes it likely that this flirtation was just another ploy for The Devil Jimmy Sexton (pictured above) to get his client more money.
• Previous to the Campbell hiring, Kalen DeBoer shut down being any connection from him to the Penn State job opening: “We’re extremely happy at Alabama. There’s never been any link. There’s never been any conversation. There’s never been any interest either way. I’m glad we can put that to bed right now.”
• Some reports had said that PSU wanted to interview Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm. However, he informed his superiors that he was not exploring any other job offers.
• Penn State fired James Franklin waaaaay back on October 12. PSU and Cal were the only Power teams to not have a coach in place for the crucial days leading up to the Early Signing Day.
• Cal has reached into the Nick Saban coaching tree and plucked Tosh Lupoi to be their next head football coach. Lupoi began his coaching career at Cal as DL coach (2008-2011) and was on the Alabama coaching staff from 2014–2018. After three years on NFL staffs, he joined former Bama staffer from 2015 Dan Lanning in Oregon as his defensive coordinator 2022-2025. Lanning has now lost two co-coordinators with Will Stein (Kentucky) being the other. Lupoi earned his first win by flying to Hawaii to meet with star QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele to secure his continued enrollment at Berkeley.
• Speaking of Kentucky, they are set to hire Joe Sloan as the school’s offensive coordinator. Sloan is the former OC and quarterbacks coach at LSU and spent nine years at Louisiana Tech prior to that.
• Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline is taking the job at South Florida. Some thought he might be a candidate for Penn State. He is anOSU’s play caller and built a reputation as the country’s top developer of wide receivers.
• Fired Florida coach Billy Napier gets a big upgrade as he goes to a College Football Playoff team, James Madison. He follows Bob Chesney who is off to UCLA.
• Kansas State coach Chris Klieman is set to retire. Former K-State QB and OC Collin Klein returns to his alma mater as head coach. Klieman came to Manhattan from North Dakota State where he won four FCS Championships in five years. With the Wildcats, he had only one losing seasons in seven campaigns, but never really set the world on fire. Only twice did his teams end up ranked with a peak of No. 14 in 2022. Klein was somehow a finalist for the Heisman in 2012. He was not drafted and wisely made the change to coaching in 2014. Bill Snyder hired him and Klieman retained him. The last two seasons, Klein has been at Texas A&M as OC/QB coach.
• North Texas hired former West Virginia and Troy coach Neal Brown. He was an assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian at Texas this season.
• It appeared momentarily that LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker would become the next coach at Tulane. However, the Bayou Bengals took out a fifth mortgage on the state capitol building to keep him in Baton Rouge.
• UConn lit up the college football world with the hiring of Toledo’s Jason Candle as their new head coach. He burned bright in the MAC with an 81-44 record, including four straight seasons with eight or more wins.
• Memphis has landed Southern Miss’ Charles Huff as their next head coach. He turned USM from 1-11 to 7-5 with many of his Marshall players coming along for the ride. We’ll see how many are willing to move again.
• Tulane promoted veteran assistant Will Hall to head coach. He played quarterback at North Alabama from 2002 to 2003 and coached at West Alabama from 2008–2013 with the last three years as head man. More recent, Hall had been head coach at Southern Miss 2021–2024 and was pretty dang awful (14-30). Good luck with that, Wave.
• Texa$ Tech coach Joey McGuire agreed to a seven-year, $7 million a year extension. The deal will keep him in Lubbock through the 2032 season. [Cue evil Jimmy Sexton laugh]
• New Auburn coach Alex Golesh has opted to keep defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. The Plains Tigers were 32nd in FBS in scoring defense with 20.7 points allowed per game, and 31st in yardage allowed at 329.2.
• UNC is reportedly committed to football coach Bill Belichick “for at least another year” after the Tar Heels finished with a 4-8 record, per on3sports.
• Mississippi State defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler has been let go. Former MSU DC Zach Arnett, who was a one year head coach following Mike Leach’s untimely death returns to Starkville in Hutzler’s place.
• Virginia Tech would like Missy State to hold their beer. New head coach James Franklin has hired the coach he is replacing to be his DC. Brent Pry was fired as head coach of the Hokies in September. Previous to his gig in Blacksburg, Pry was on Franklin’s staffs at Vanderbilt and Penn State (2011-2021).
• Tennessee dismissed defensive coordinator Tim Banks on Monday. Banks, 53, joined the Vols in 2021.
• A little girl told Urban Meyer that an onion is the only food that makes her cry. So, he threw a coconut in her face.
• The only way that Fat F*** Phil Fulmer burns calories is by leaving brownies in the oven too long.

TEEVEE

SEC Championship Game not included. ↑↑↑

THIS WEEK

Saturday, December 13

AMERICA’S GAME: Army at Navy 2pm/3pm CBS – Baltimore, MD
LA BOWL: Boise vs Washington 7pm/8pm ABC – Inglewood, CA

Tuesday, December 16

VETERANS BOWL: Troy vs Jacksonville State 8pm/9pm ESPN – Montgomery, AL

Wednesday, December 17

ORLANDO CURE BOWL: Old Dominion vs South Florida 4pm/5pm ESPN
MOBILE BOWL: La-Laffy vs Delaware 7:30/8:30 ESPN

Thursday, December 18

FRISCO BOWL: Missouri State vs Arkansas State 8pm/9pm ESPN2 – Butch Jones’s Red Wolves are 6-6. They will need a win to secure his second winning record in five seasons at AwcSU.

Friday, December 19

MYRTLE BEACH BOWL: Kennesaw vs Western Michigan 10am/11am ESPN – Lance Taylor!
GASPARILLA BOWL: Memphis vs NC State 1:30/2:30 ESPN

Saturday, December 20

CFP: #10 Miami-FL at #7 Texas A&M (-3.5) 11am/noon ABC
CFP: #20 Tulane at #6 Ole Miss (-17.5) 2:30/3:30 TNT
CFP: 24 James Madison at #5 Oregon (-21.5) 6:30/7:30 TNT

Point spreads per FanDuel.

#ALABAMA

• Heading into the SECCG, the Crimson Tide was a walking M*A*S*H unit. Alabama starting linebacker Justin Jefferson and starting corner Zabien Brown left Saturday’s game with injuries. Tide coach Kalen DeBoer stated that both are expected to be available against Oklahoma on Dec. 19.
• DeBoer said that they are optimistic but continue to evaluate defender LT Overton who was out with some mysterious illness.
• Running back Jam Miller is “probably the farthest along.” DeBoer added, “He’s got a really strong chance of being not just available, but ready to go at the level he can compete and do some good things for us.”
• Tight end Josh Cuevas is “on his way.” DeBoer stated “I’m holding on to some pretty good hope. But we’ll see.”

College Football Playoff: Friday, December 19, 2025

#9 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-3) at #8 Oklahoma Sooners (10-2)

Norman, OK ~ 7:00/8:00 ABC

• Editorial: What can you say? It’s do or die. Alabama will have revenge on their mind. The Tide needs to cut down on mistakes in order to pull this one off.
• Oklahoma Coach: Year 4 Brent Venables is in the midst of his best season as head coach with Okie reaching their first playoff since 2019. The Sooners are 7th in FBS scoring defense with 13.9 points allowed per game.
• Oklahoma 2025: Oklahoma finished 6-2 in the SEC which put them in 6th place. The losses came at neutral site Dallas against Texas and at home vs Ole Miss.
• Series: Alabama is a miserable 2-5-1 all-time against the Sooners. Bama needs to fix that.
• Weather: It’s pretty far out to predict but clear skies are expected with a high of 56° during the day and dropping down to 39° overnight.
• TV Announcers: A-Team Chris Fowler on play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit as analyst with Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge as sideline reporters.
• Radio: Chris Stewart, Tyler Watts, Corey Reamer on Alabama Radio.
• Vegas: The FanDuel point spread has Alabama as a 1.5 point favorite and 40.5 on the Over/Under.