0 comments by Allen Kenney on 1/14/2016
In the wake of what’s being declared a disastrous postseason for college football, any number of reasons have been offered to explain the decline in television ratings. Plenty of factors intersected to hurt interest in the games, not the least of which being that the semifinals started while a good percentage of Americans were still […]
0 comments by Bart D
The lousy thing about numbers is that they can say whatever the heck a person wants them to say just by moving the goal posts a bit to suit whatever argument they want. Numbers are eye-catching and look powerful, which is why people tell you that if you can sneak some stats in on a […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It’s unavoidable — discussion of Nick Saban as the greatest head coach in college football’s 147-year history has already become a feature of 2016. It will become an even bigger talking point if, 11 months from now, Alabama returns to the College Football Playoff in search of a repeat title it will be favored to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Where do Alabama and Nick Saban stand in the larger theater of college football, and in the pantheon of the sport’s history? These topics are the talk of the village this week… if your village cares about college football, at any rate. We have a long offseason ahead of us, especially if you’re not into […]
0 comments by Bart D on 1/13/2016
The verdict is in. Most things in life can be compared to dating, and the CFB Playoff doesn’t pass the smell test for being able to avoid bad analogies. In this case, the excitement of the first date was not matched by the second one, where basic questions get answered with the vigor of not […]
0 comments by Bart D
Unilaterally at first glance, Alabama and Auburn fans aren’t going to like this statement: y’all are a lot more like each other than you want to admit. Step back from the horror for a second. There is good news, too. The reason y’all are together on this thing is for a good reason, mostly because […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It is quite true that in a few respects, the now-ended 2015 college football season was a lot like several others. Alabama won the whole darn thing. Nick Saban outcoached his peers. A brand-name powerhouse won it all. Of course, you knew those things already, much as you could rattle off several other obvious details […]
0 comments by Bart D on 1/12/2016
It’s always best to evaluate things after some measure of thought. Twenty-four hours should suffice, when the immediate reaction of whatever you’re having a feeling on has completely worn off and some degree of common sense should have set in. The key word there being, “should.” So here we go, five thoughts on what was […]
0 comments by Yesh Ginsburg
Since the very beginning of the College Football Playoff, director Bill Hancock has doubled down on his statement that the CFP selection committee’s job is to select the four best teams to compete in the CFP. He emphasized it many times, including here and here. It was the running theme in his reddit AMA, which he […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer
In a national championship game that featured some of the top defensive prospects in the nation, a low-scoring contest was inevitable, right? Not so fast, my friend. It was offense that took over in Alabama’s 45-40 victory on Monday night to claim the national championship. Another curveball: most of the huge names, outside of Derrick […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 1/11/2016
I apply my own law to big college football games: The offense-defense matchup which gains a much smaller portion of the pregame buzz is the matchup which will more centrally decide the contest. This law was set aside in the Orange Bowl playoff semifinal, when the confrontation between Oklahoma’s offense and Clemson’s defense — the […]
0 comments by Terry P. Johnson
The day we’ve been waiting for is finally here. College football will finally crown its national champion: Alabama or Clemson. So, which team will win? While I won’t answer that until the very end, here is a list of thoughts, observations, and stats to pay attention to in tonight’s contest. The defenses will dominate. Alabama […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney
Nick Saban apparently won’t need to worry about his players trying to protect their draft stock on Monday night in the national championship game versus Clemson. On Sunday, Saban picked up on a thread he started at SEC media days in July, when Alabama’s head coach bemoaned the fact that potential early entrants on his […]
0 comments by Joe Dexter on 1/9/2016
The perception at the end of the 2015 season still might be that the Big Ten Conference doesn’t have the full horsepower to be considered the best conference in college football. Even though Iowa and Michigan State struggled on the the biggest stage, perception isn’t always reality. Nobody had more teams in the final CFP rankings […]
Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) passes during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Central Florida in State College, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013. UCF won 34-31. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
0 comments by Kevin McGuire on 1/7/2016
Christian Hackenberg could have gone to Alabama and become the face of a budding dynasty with the nation’s top offensive line protecting him and a Heisman Trophy-caliber running back in the backfield with him. The pro-style passer, a five-star recruit on 247 Sports’ composite ranking system and an Under Armour All-American, would have been a star […]
