SLAG-91

Missouri played some really dumb football at the end of the half...unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that allowed OSU some breathing room instead of punting from their own 1, then an inexcusable delay of game penalty that prevented the long FG attempt (which I wanted to see Mevis try) at the end of the half.

I am with you 100% in terms of sentiment. I was once a staunch playoff supporter using the bowl games as the venue (did my persuasive speech in my college speech course on this very topic), but as I've gotten older, I've cooled very much on how the process has evolved. Your point about fan involvement is a valid one...with the expanded playoff, plus a conference championship game, you're looking at up to 4 games after a 12-game season, which is pretty much an NFL length season. Speaking of, at this point, it's time to just completely blow it up and just "NFL-ize" college football completely because, as you said, we're not going back to the "Big Four on New Year's Day" days of the 70s and 80s. I think winning a conference meant more in college football because the ultimate decision on a "national champion" was largely a beauty contest (and for many years was decided before bowl games), but a conference title was won on the field, no balloting required. Going to that major bowl game mattered...that was the prize. Now, if it's not part of the playoffs, something like this year's Orange Bowl just feels like a consolation prize. I didn't mind all of the discussions and "what-ifs" after bowl season back then. Would Miami have beaten Washington in 1991? Would Georgia Tech have beaten Colorado in 1990? Doesn't matter...each of them got a share of a MNC.

Maybe we (the United States) will celebrate 250 years of independence in 2026 by having an amendment proposed and passed that will change how this is done. Until then, we're all just yelling (typing) into the void. It can be cathartic to do so, I suppose. The current method was a compromise between extremes, but I'm not optimistic that we've got enough legislative competence in place at the moment to craft an amendment that would be satisfactory. We've got an overabundance of carnival barkers, grifters and plain old dim bulbs slithering around D.C.

Since we are a republic of states, I'm good with ensuring that every state have a guaranteed contribution to electing the President. A straight popular vote would make campaigning even more narrow than it already is. I wish we could figure out a way to split the difference and award electoral votes by congressional districts (Maine and Nebraska already do this with one of their CDs), but that would require states do a proper job of drawing said congressional districts, and it's been demonstrated already that a fair number of states are incapable of doing this. So, we trudge on.

Projecting Haley/Biden is a waste of time, because that is almost assuredly NOT going to be the matchup. I think any R not named Trump beats Biden in the general. I'm fully expecting a rematch of 2020, though, because I'm a pessimist by nature and expect the worst when it comes to national politics. If/when it happens, we'll deserve worldwide ridicule for putting those two potted plants on display as our purported best options. This trainwreck can be avoided in the primaries, but I have zero expectation that enough R people will participate and coalesce around a non-Trump candidate, and I fully expect plenty of crossover D folks to vote for Trump, because he is Biden's most beatable option.

Greatest/most talented is in the eye of the beholder, but Hall & Oates were certainly prolific. They were a notable part of my pre-teen/teenager soundtrack growing up. Maybe they'll settle all of this amicably without needing any private eyes.

Looks like the raccoons are winning 23-14 😏

This was the last time I cried after a sporting event didn't go the way I wanted. Drew Pearson nearly got away from the 49er secondary on the drive following that play, but I think Eric Wright got him by the back of the jersey (legal then), then Danny White fumbled while being sacked, and the torch was officially passed. To answer the original question: Roger Staubach Dr. J Mike Schmidt

On this, sir, we are in 100% lockstep. Paxton should be ashamed of himself...he won't be, of course, but he should be.

Said it earlier, but this sort of thing is why CFB needs to go straight NFL model and not this halfway in-between stuff...you don't hear the words "eye test" in professional sports.

This is a point that has been severely overlooked. FSU's AD got it right. The committee turned into prognosticators, and that isn't their job. I don't have any love for FSU, but they got name-branded today. We know how that feels, and it sucks.

It's time for college football to just go ahead and rip the band-aid off...the NFL-ization of CFB is pretty much complete. Set up some re-realigned conferences and divisions, figure out a 12 game schedule with no FCS/1-AA filler, make a 16-team playoff and be done with it.

This will be the first time in the playoffs era that a head-to-head result will likely be used to decide a spot. This is (I think) the first time there were three undefeated Power 5 conference champions in the playoffs era. That is working against Georgia...they could afford a loss in 2021, but not this year. Florida State getting left out in favor of not one, but two one-loss teams would be an admission that objective results don't matter, and whoever it was that said UGA, Alabama or Texas would all get the benefit of the doubt and be praised for their grit in the face of adversity if they were in FSU's spot is right on. All of that said, I won't be totally surprised if FSU gets bumped because of a perceived inability to beat any of the other three teams. It wouldn't be the right thing to do, imo, but it wouldn't be a shock.

Yeah, Deadspin looks totally foolish on this one... Kid had a good day, actually.

Time to keep up the "3" streak... 1983 1993 2003 2013 Head and heart don't agree today, hopefully my heart gets to say "I told you so" to my head.

Getting this somewhat back on topic...British reporter not mincing words.

Biden has always been of mediocre intelligence and questionable ethics...in other words, a garden variety D.C. pol. His filter has deteriorated pretty significantly, and can't be attributed to "stuttering" (the go-to goaltend for Joe). Needs to not be the '24 Dem nominee for all of our sakes, and he has a bunch of company on both sides of the aisle in needing to go play with grandkids or play bocce ball.

Well, to be fair, Kansas football has been ass for most of its existence. 😅

Only other time I've seen something that weapons-grade stupid from a coach was when Kevin Steele was coaching Baylor in 1999. Baylor was up 3 points against UNLV, and was deep in Vegas territory. UNLV was out of timeouts, and all Baylor had to do was take a knee. Well, Steele decides that he's going to "instill an attitude of toughness", so he runs another play to try and score. Baylor RB fumbles, Vegas scoops and scores to win the game. Cristobal just put himself in that dubious club of "dumbest of the dumb" coaching decisions.

Yep...I was at that game against CS-Fullerton. Was definitely strange to hear someone summoned to the locker room over the P.A.

Okie State's QB the last few years (4 year starter, I think) transferred for his final season to Ole Miss, which seemed puzzling, as he's not even starting. Even with that, it doesn't explain getting whipped at home by South Alabama.

Reminds me of this song...to be clear, I'd steer far away, as she seems eaten up with crazy. I'm not a bit surprised at what took place...vaping and some preliminary rub-n-tug in public seems to be 100% on-brand.

Self-important, pedantic prig status confirmed. Back to the OP, that was pretty good stuff. Sometimes you're turning around a sports car (all of the talent is available, but has been underutilized), and sometimes you're turning around an aircraft carrier. I think Freeze's job is somewhere between those extremes, but closer to the aircraft carrier. Hopefully my use of the parenthetical was grammatically correct. Heaven forbid I offend the persnickety purveyors of proper prose.

Not really. This is pretty simple: No need to recommend this booster for infants (none of those shots were necessary for young people, imo, but that's another thread). It's about as necessary or helpful as Georgia Tech's last TD against Cumberland in 1916 (put them up 222-0). If you fall into one of those common risk groups that we all know by now get their ass kicked by Covid (older, obese, immunodeficient, vitamin D deficient), then give it a thought. Someone else can have mine...but this does remind me that I need to schedule a shingles shot. That stuff concerns me by magnitudes of 10 more than Covid...chicken pox at age 22 kicked my ass (lost 8 pounds in a week), and my mom was as miserable as I've ever seen a person when she had a case of shingles in her early 40s.