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Yeah it is crazy they plan games like that 10 years out. By that time, Saban will have retired from Alabama and Dabo will be their head coach and Clemson will be back to sucking. lol
Clemson won a national title in 1981 and it was a top 10 program in the 80s.
I'm not sure why you think another coach could not be successful at Clemson.
I also don't see any reason for Dabo to leave Clemson for Alabama. Clemson is in a good recruiting area, has good facilities, pays well, etc.
(17) Buffalo vs. Ohio. Picked earlier above.
Miami (OH) vs. Northern Illinois. I believe the Huskies locked up the MAC West with the win last Wednesday, but if they didn't they'll officially lock it up here.
Florida Atlantic vs. North Texas. I'll take the Mean Green.
Colgate vs. (24) Army. As SouthernTiger said, very underrated game as the Raiders have some ridiculous offensive numbers. I think Army is able to slow them down, but if they were playing a bad team like UConn or East Carolina Colgate probably wins.
Michigan State vs. Nebraska. Not sure what shape the Spartans are in, and the Huskers have finally found themselves towards the end of 2018. Too little too late, but could be a big thing to build on for offseason works & conditioning for Scott Frost in the Spring.
Northwestern vs. Minnesota. Not only did the Wildcats beat Iowa on the road last week, but their 2 closest competitors (Wisconsin & Purdue along with aforementioned Iowa) all lost meaning Northwestern is the West champion!! They have the rivalry game with Illinois next week, and than obviously the following weekend they have to play now since they are a division champion, so I think they take it easy this week.
Pittsburgh vs. Wake Forest. It's the ACC, so take what you least expect to happen (was 1-1 last week with that strategy). I'll take Wake at home.
USF vs. Temple. Temple at home to continue USF's trend downwards.
(25) Utah vs. Colorado. I'm pretty sure they end the year (next weekend) on the road, so they may have to win this for a 6th win, as I wouldn't count on them getting that 6th next week. (2) Notre Dame vs. (14) Syracuse. Close game, but ND wins. UL Monroe vs. Arkansas State. No idea here. Miami vs. Virginia Tech. No idea here. Usually I pick the home team in Miami/VT games, but this Tech team is so bad. How the hell was this team ranked preseason top 20?? Missouri vs. Tennessee. Tennessee will beat Vandy next week to clinch bowl eligibility, I don't think they can outscore Mizzou.
USC vs. UCLA. Speaking of teams that are bad, that's USC.
Virginia vs. Georgia Tech. I'll take Tech in the weird & wacky ACC Coastal division game. (8) West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State. This can be a close game, but I'll take the Eers in Stillwater as the Pokes lose another close one.
Wisconsin vs. Purdue. I've learned my lesson this year with Wisconsin. They'll be in some low tier bowl game as Purdue & Northwestern finish above them in the division.
(20) UAB vs. Texas A&M. UAB defense is damn good, but don't think that is going to be good enough in College Station. Though at least I credit A&M for actually scheduling someone. I doubt the Aggies though UAB would be this good but at least they are a FBS team, I think Florida & Alabama are playing FCS teams this week. Connecticut vs. East Carolina. As a resident of the Nutmeg state I can tell you UConn football was all but irrelevant this year with the Red Sox winning the World Series and the early start to the college basketball season. With that said this is their last chance for a win in 2018. I'd be a lot more confident if this game was in East Hartford at the Rent, but hopefully the Pirates can "out-bad" the Huskies.
Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt. Oh boy, wonderful, I have to actually pick a winner?? Stanford vs. Cal. Yes, I know Cal just ended that like 15 year losing streak to USC and they've got a pretty long one going against Stanford like 8 or 9 years as well, and they are playing at home, but I will take the Cardinal.
(13) Cincinnati vs. (5) UCF. Game Day should definitely be here, I look for the Knights to continue their run with another close win.
Iowa State vs. (16) Texas. Cyclones will keep this close, but the Horns in Austin.
Arizona vs. (9) Washington State. Win or lose, the game for the Cougs is next weekend's Apple Cup.
Arizona State vs. Oregon. Oregon should win, but this is Pac 12 After Dark, and Pac-12 after Dark has a chance to get really weird.
San Diego State vs. (18) Fresno State. Fresno bounces back from last weekend's 4th quarter in Boise.
I see two things regarding ND-Syracuse: (1) Syracuse was misperceived to be better than they are because their "close" game with elite Clemson occurred when the Tigers' star quarterback was injuried. Syracuse essentially played Clemson with its 3rd string quarterback, and Clemson still won. (2) Syracuse's offense today was without its starting quarterback who left the game with a back injury. This essentially rendered the team one-dimensional without an offense. The burden fell on the special teams and defense to somehow inflict turnovers to score points which was unrealistic. So, the game was largely incomplete and not representative of the shootout that might have been.
Meanwhile, sportscasters and news agencies love it when Notre Dame wins. The mindset now seems to be that USC is an easy game since they lost two in a row (including homecoming). The consensus seems to be that Notre Dame has essentially wrapped up a playoff spot.
As a Domer, I don't see the Syracuse game as a convincing victory because they lost their star quarterback early in the game. The backup was horrible. Next, as an ND fan since the 1970s I know full well the history of USC-ND - it's an out-of-control rivalry when one is playing for the championship selection. I still remember the heartbreaking field goal of the 1978 game when ND lost by surprise to USC on a last second field goal. I hated that. It occurred when Joe Montana was the star quarterback for ND.
I don't see the USC game as a "given". They are the only Pac-12 team to beat Washington State. USC is very capable of beating Notre Dame. It is THE rivalry for them since it usually hits national scrutiny. They will be ready and would love nothing more than to stop ND's CFP selection. As a Domer, I am fully aware of this. The Trojans have done it before.
So, (1) the odds are still realistic that ND will lose at USC. And (2) as a guy who went to graduate school in the SEC I am convinced that ND has no chance against the elite in the SEC or Clemson. Alabama would turn ND into Ball State pretty quickly just like in 2013. It happened before, and it will happen again.
What would be better is if ND loses and then goes to New Year's Day Bowl against a team like UCF or perhaps Oklahoma State or Ohio State (assuming they do not get selected to the CFP which they probably won't). They could still lose badly there though - especially against UCF. But the chances of a closer game are much more realistic compared to the other options of Clemson or Alabama. Because if ND does make the CFP the odds are high they will just be routed again like in 2013.
Ohio State beats Michigan, then loses to Northwestern.
West Virginia beats Oklahoma.
ND loses to USC.
Washington States loses to Washington or in the PAC 12 title game.
Georgia loses to G Tech.
In that scenario I think ND gets in but not sure about the 4th team. THey'll probably put UGA in again but if Oklahoma beat Texas in BIg 12 title game they would have beat one of the two teams they lost to.
It interesting to me how people are constantly trying to ship Dabo to Alabama. If I was an Alabama fan I wouldn't be thinking about who the next coach is going to be.
Dabo's comment was that you never say never because relationships could change at Clemson. I don't think it is probable that he is going to have a problem with other people working at Clemson.
He's been at Clemson longer than he was at Alabama. Clemson also gave him a head coach opportunity that Alabama would have never offered him as a WRs coach with no OC or DC experience. Alabama actually fired Dabo with the coaching staff that was replaced at that time.
I know that I could not go running back to a company that had let me go in the past if I was successful at another company. I also don't see how anybody would choose to live in Tuscaloosa over Clemson which is nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains next to 3 beautiful lakes.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 11-18-2018 at 09:28 AM..
It interesting to me how people are constantly trying to ship Dabo to Alabama. If I was an Alabama fan I wouldn't be thinking about who the next coach is going to be.
Dabo's comment was that you never say never because relationships could change at Clemson. I don't think it is probable that he is going to have a problem with other people working at Clemson.
He's been at Clemson longer than he was at Alabama. Clemson also gave him a head coach opportunity that Alabama would have never offered him as a WRs coach with no OC or DC experience. Alabama actually fired Dabo with the coaching staff that was replaced at that time.
I know that I could not go running back to a company that had let me go in the past if I was successful at another company. I also don't see how anybody would choose to live in Tuscaloosa over Clemson which is nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains next to 3 beautiful lakes.
Saban could be at Alabama another 5-15 years so it seems kind of premature to predict who will be the coach there. Dabo could have some rough seasons. So much of success in football relies on quarterback play and there is no guarantee Clemson will always have Taj Boyd, Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence type of QBs.
It was just 4 years ago when people thought FSU was going to own the ACC again like it did back in the 90s and now it is a struggling program.
I know Kiffen didn't like living in Tuscaloosa which is why he left. He is a big coastal city kind of guy. He also doesn't seem like a person who is good at the head coach thing. Alabama would hire somebody who couldn't get it done at USC? I don't see that.
I hope Alabama hires Kiffen.
I've seen people say following Saban would be a tough deal but Dabo would have at least 1 title at CLemson plus at least 3 or 4 playoff appearances, and he could also sell his own experience as a player on Bama's 92 championship team, and the fact Alabama has won a lot of titles. I think Alabama would probably be even better than now if Dabo was there because Dabo in my view has a better personality than Saban.
I think much of Saban's success at Bama has been the fact Bama has rarely faced good pass offenses in the SEC. Most of his losses in the SEC and outside of the conference were to teams that were good at passing the ball.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 11-18-2018 at 12:45 PM..
I don't know what got into Pitt the second half of the season. They are a completely different team these days, and Notre Dame's close win vs Pitt doesn't look so shaky any longer. Maybe the ACC Championship game could actually in fact turn out to be a game.
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