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When it Comes to the Playoff, Less is More

12/29/2019

Curator Sam Burnham

It’s time to have a serious discussion about the CFB Playoff. Through all the uproar and the protestations, and complaints about if the correct four teams were chosen or if the playoff needs expanding there’s one overarching absolutely true fact that everyone needs to come to grips with. That truth is this simple: the awful, rotten, flawed process we have right now is as good as it will ever be.

Sure we’ve had Chris Fowler, among others, wondering aloud, on air, what would have gone differently had Oregon been in instead of Oklahoma. The truth is that nothing would have been different. If you can’t beat Arizona State, you have no business playing LSU in the Playoff.

I kicked over a hornet’s nest full of butthurt Bama homers who were whining about “Bama fatigue” keeping them out of the Playoff. The truth is, Alabama had 0 quality wins this year and had no business is the playoff. The were eliminated. Period.

Had Georgia beaten South Carolina they could possibly have made the playoff but the truth is they didn’t beat South Carolina. While they’re probably the 4th best team in the nation they’re not a playoff team. Period.

We have the playoff in place because the old bowl system could always manage to narrow the competitive field to three teams, but rarely just two. LSU having to share a national championship with an inferior Southern Cal team was a low point. An undefeated 2003 Auburn team who didn’t even get a shot at Oklahoma or Southern Cal would have beaten either easily. Southern Cal wound up vacating that championship for cheating. What was needed was a “plus 1” game that would help weed out two of those final three. The regular season and conference championship games have already eliminated the rest of the teams at that point.

The biggest truth opposing expansion is that no one should have to sit through a blowout just because more teams might theoretically have a chance to win. Oklahoma didn’t belong there this year (or any of the other years they’ve made the playoff) but the rules say four teams have to go. So we got a miserable bloodbath game that no one honestly enjoyed. It’s silly and unnecessary. Adding more teams to the playoff will water it down, create more blowouts and meaningless games. Expansion might create more pomp, more spectacle, more fireworks, but it will add no substance, no practicality, no real competition.

Football is not basketball and it is foolish to think we can recreate March Madness in December. It’s an apples and automobiles comparison. We don’t even need to try. Let’s make the most of the system that is in place, realize that the regular season eliminates teams every week, and be realistic about our fandoms. Yes, you love your team but if they aren’t LSU or Clemson, they’ve been duly eliminated. Period. Better luck next year.

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Curator & Coach - Bowl Week

12/27/2019

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For Bowl Week we pick one great bowl game to watch and also break down the semifinals.

Curator Sam Burnham

Cotton Bowl - Memphis vs Penn State
This may be the most under appreciated game if the bowl season. Penn State comes in as the favorite and perhaps a bit disappointed at how the season played out after an 8-0 start. You gotta still respect this team as those two losses came to Ohio State and Minnesota, not too shabby. Penn State is a good football team but how could anyone outside the Keystone State not pull for Memphis? A 12-1 season, their first outright conference title in 50 years, and a big boy bowl bid. They’ve been in a bowl for the last six seasons but this is their first foray into the big time. They’ve accomplished a lot this season and they’re still being dismissed.

But there’s more. Their head coach has left for Tallahassee, a move few could blame him for. But his team now looks to a former assistant. This is one of the best bowl season story formulas out there. You can make blockbuster movies with this formula. The team rallies around the interim, they play an unsuspecting giant who’d rather be in the playoff, or at least Pasadena, and everything falls into place. The underdog plays their best game of the year while the favorite plays flat and sloppy. The underdog shocks the world. Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger. Tigers over Lions.

Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State vs Clemson

This is the game everyone expects to be good...but it won’t be. Clemson has been the stepkid in the polls this year. We’re talking about the team that completely dismantled Alabama in last year’s championship game and still haven’t lost a game. This is a very good football team that gets no respect. They’ve taken a good ribbing for their schedule but they’ve also won every game this season. In fact, Clemson hasn’t lost a football game since the Obama administration.

Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne are going to put on a clinic for the Buckeye defense. This is a pair made in heaven. If you fall back to stop Lawrence, Etienne is going to have a full head of steam before you get to him. If you bunch up to stop Etienne, Lawrence will go deep and pick you apart.

Across the ball from the Tigers, Ohio State has gotten a lot of press, respect, and attention. They had two Heisman finalists, high rankings in the polls...but have they really played anyone? Georgia fans are up in arms about Justin Fields and the season he has had in Columbus. But it’s easy for a decent quarterback to get big numbers against Maryland and Rutgers. So now we have a day of reckoning. The Buckeyes aren’t playing Miami (OH) this time. How many times have we seen the Buckeyes waltz through their schedule before getting blasted by a Southern team in bowl season? However many it was, go ahead and add another one. Dabo is taking the kids to the Big Easy.

Peach Bowl - Oklahoma vs LSU

I’m not sure what else can be said about this one. LSU’s defense has been suspect at times this year but they still might be the toughest D the Sooners have seen. And I can’t imagine anything Oklahoma could do to stop Joe Burrow. His performance in the SEC Championship Game was exemplary. Georgia has one of the best defenses in school history and Joe did what he wanted. He comes into this game with plenty of weapons at his disposal. The running game is solid, receivers are plenty, the offensive line is mighty. Burrow is that quarterback that makes everyone around him better. He leads by example and the guys want to play harder.

I dont want to take anything away from Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts. He’s a magnificent ball player but I’ve been far more impressed by how he has handled himself throughout his transfer and experience with his new team. That’s indicative of character and a leader with character is a winner. He won in Tuscaloosa and now in Norman. His team counts on him because they know they can. He has a knack for making things happen on the football field. I think he’ll keep the Sooners in the game for a while but LSU is just too much.

Coach Drew Burnham

GEORGIA VS BAYLOR
At face value, this one seems like a gimmie. The Dawgs should roll with little to no issue if you simply look at the rosters. However, college football is great because there’s a lot more there than talented rosters when it comes to winning games. Baylor might just be the most under-rated team in the country. They lost twice this season, both to Oklahoma by a combined total of 10 points. That’s not too shabby. They allowed 30 points only twice this season playing in the high flying Big 12 where anybody can hang 40 on you and still lose any given week. Last but anything but least, they have one of the most outstanding team cultures in the country. “Culture” has become such a buzzword in college football in the last few years. EVERYONE claims to prioritize it because they do know for a fact that it is of upmost importance. However, in many circumstances, it’s just good board talk and x’s and o’s and winning at all costs often creep ahead of culture development on coaching staff’s to do list. In the volatile and insecure world of college football coaching, the pressure to win now often scares coaches away from playing the long game. The successful game. They feel like they don’t have time because they will surely be fired before a true, deep rooted, well built culture can take hold. They aren’t built over night. However, look at the teams that love each other. Look at the teams who are well-known for having a blast, playing for each other and working hard. PJ Fleck has now built a winner at…Minnesota? Yea, that’s right. Will Healy came in and took UNC-Charlotte to its first bowl game in school history and produced a winning season at a place who had never even had the thought in his first season. Matt Rhule came from Temple into one of the biggest dumpster fires in the history of the game. How did he fix it and get the Bears to the Sugar Bowl? He took his time. He didn’t cut corners. He didn’t mix up his priorities in fear of being fired before his process worked. Look at them now. I believe more than anything else in this world that culture wins. UGA doesn’t have culture. They have star power. They’re athletic. They’re highly touted recruits. They have all that going for them and they are certainly an elite program. But culture wins. Look for the Bears to find a way to get this one done. Don’t look for it to be pretty but look for it to get done.

OHIO ST VS CLEMSON
This section could be written in readers digest version by simply saying “see above section for details” but I don’t get paid all this money by ABG to cut corners. Dabo Swinney is a wizard. How in the world he manages to be the undefeated reigning National Champion and still talk his way into the entire country considering the Tigers an underdog is Oscar worthy. How does that happen? “Ah we’re just little ole Clemson. On the ROY bus. Alabama is the king. Stop looking at those trophies and rings! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” It’s simply incredible. They must be the worst undefeated team in the history of college football. I get it. The ACC is down this year. That’s fine. The ACC wasn’t exactly a juggernaut last year and they won the national title like they were playing the class AA South Carolina High school State Runner-up. They lost a lot off that team but what do we think Dabo replaced them with? Some low end walk on’s who got turned down by Wake Forest? Come on. This Clemson team is loaded. Ohio State is good. They’re really good. I think they also have a great culture to match. BUT. This is Dabo – the inventor of culture. There are none better, despite plenty of high-quality impersonators. This has all the makings of a great game, I’m just amazed at how easily Dabo has been able to crush any hype from forming around this team all year. It’s been a masterful performance and I look forward to watching them limp and crawl their way to a win in this game.

LSU VS OKLAHOMA
Bad news boys and girls: no one is going to beat LSU this year. This section has nothing to do with Oklahoma. Nothing. There may have never been another coach to walk the face of the earth who was a better fit to lead LSU than Coach O. Les was certainly close. His personality fit but he was a yank. Ed is one of their own. It’s a fairytale. He is absolutely perfect. He has rebuilt and retooled this program into an eye-popping force. Their underdog, chip on the shoulder QB has found a perfect home to allow him to reveal his true potential to the world. I love Lincoln Riley. I love him as a coach and a man. I love his tiny call sheet. I love his coaching style in being unapologetically who he is and doing what he believes in. I love his unmistakable ability to develop and showcase QB’s that he didn’t recruit. There is an extremely short list of teams that I would not pick them to beat, but Coach O is playing a different game than everyone else right now. Geaux Tigers!

Curator’s Picks
MEMPHIS over PENN ST
FLORIDA over VIRGINIA
CLEMSON over OHIO ST
LSU over OKLAHOMA
GEORGIA over BAYLOR
WISCONSIN over OREGON
MICHIGAN over ALABAMA
AUBURN over MINNESOTA

Coach’s Picks
PENN ST over MEMPHIS
FLORIDA over VIRGINIA
CLEMSON over OHIO ST
LSU over OKLAHOMA
BAYLOR over GEORGIA
WISCONSIN over OREGON
ALABAMA over MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA over AUBURN

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ABG Poll - 12/8/19

12/8/2019

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This will be the last poll taken until bowl season is complete and we crown our national champion. This week we have a lot of teams receiving votes but no Lagniappe Group due to low vote totals in that group.

We have our four playoff teams selected. We expect this to be the same four selected by the CFB Playoff Committee. We are less certain that they will have this same, which is to say correct, seeding.

We also have some some bold statements on behalf of the American Athletic and Sunbelt Conferences. The Mountain West and Conference USA get mentioned as well. Memphis, Appalachian State, Boise State, and even Florida Atlantic have been impressive this season. It’s easy to snark at their schedules but are they really much weaker than some of the others in the poll? Give these guys a chance on a larger stage this bowl season.

Here’s to a fun and exciting bowl season!

The ABG Poll

1) LSU 48 (3)
2) Clemson 45 (1)
3) Oklahoma 36
4 Ohio State 35 (1)
5) Oregon 25
6) Memphis 18
7) Georgia 17
8) Baylor 16
9) Appalachian State 13
10) Auburn 7

also receiving votes: Boise State 6, Utah 4, Florida 2, Florida Atlantic 2, Wisconsin 2, Miami-Ohio 1

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Curator & Coach - Conference Championship Weekend

12/5/2019

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Curator Sam Burnham

Three Games to Watch
Ohio State vs Wisconsin
This is going to be a big game for the Buckeyes. Their schedule has been suspect. Earlier this year they beat Wisconsin 38-7. That must still sting up at Camp Randall. The tricky thing will be beating the Badgers again. Beating a team twice in the same season is so hard. This game has added pressure for the Buckeyes. The Badgers already want revenge. But they also have nothing to lose. One the other hand, Ohio State could potentially lose a shot at a national championship. A loss in Indianapolis would nullify those big wins over a Rutgers, Maryland, and Miami (OH). Look for this one to be closer than the first. But also expect the Buckeyes to handle their business.

Oklahoma vs Baylor
Because of the craziness that comes with conference championship weekend, the winner oof this game has a great chance to make the playoff. In fact, I think only an LSU loss keeps this winner out.

It has not been that long ago that sportswriters were penning obituaries for Baylor Football. The controversies that befell the program would have shattered many programs. But the Bears are back.

As I mentioned before, it is incredibly hard to beat the same team twice in the same season. The Sooners eked our a squeaker a few weeks ago and Baylor has not forgotten it. Oklahoma has to play their best game on Saturday if they want any chance at the playoff. Baylor won’t need much motivation for this one.

Georgia vs LSU
This is the best matchup of the weekend. Joe Burrow and that amazing offense against the #1 defense in the SEC. A friend said it best last week: “Georgia’s defense is a cheat code.” The Dawgs have built this season on their defense and their kicker. I don’t think Georgia has seen an offense like LSU’s but I also don’t think LSU has seen a defense like Georgia’s.

This game is in Georgia which sounds like a home game for the Dawgs. But everyone knows the Tigers travel well and will be well supported in Atlanta.

The big big question is what will happen when Georgia has the ball. Their offense has been sluggish and is not hampered by injuries. But LSU’s defense can be pretty sketchy. If the Dawgs get their running game going, LSU will have their hands full.

Upset Alert: SEC Championship
All the talking heads are talking down about the Dawgs. You can’t blame them. All the signals point to the Dawgs needing to hold LSU under 17 points in order to win. That just sounds like a bridge too far. Burrow & Co. are going to let it all hang out.

Like I mentioned before, if Georgia can get their running game going, control the game tempo, keep LSU on defense and play their usual defense, this could definitely be a win.

This scenario depands on the big uglies. Georgia’s offensive line is a brute squad. They really need to live up to the hype. If they take over the game, control the line of scrimmage that is how Georgia get that running game going. They’re due. I think this might be their game. For that reason, I’m putting the Tigers on Upset Alert.

Coach Drew Burnham

Three Games to Watch
CINCINNATTI @ MEMPHIS
The Tigers handled act 1 of this dual-part series. Now they have to accomplish one of the toughest tasks in all of sports: beating a good team twice. You see it all over the NFL. 2 victories in the same year against a good team is extremely tough, no matter how good you are. Now, try to do it in not only the same year, but in back to back weeks, and you have a real booger bear on your hands. If there is anyone who can get it done, I believe it’s Norvell and his staff. Memphis will get them at Home again, which will certainly help but this is a tall task. It should make for an entertaining matchup.

UTAH VS OREGON
The Pac-12 has a big shot here to receive their 1st CFP invite. Oregon is the one that no one is talking about. They are sliding under the radar regardless of the fat that they are in a “win and you’re in” spot. There is a guaranteed loss in front of them so they should be all set. There is one little wrinkle that I will mention later that could throw a wrench in that, but this is the biggest Pac-12 game of the playoff era. The Utes defense has been stellar all year having allowed 15 points or less 8 times this season. Their ability to stifle some of the high-flying offenses on the west coast, I believe, make them a legitimate playoff contender. These guys are a major sleeper and people need to wake up!

GEORGIA VS LSU
Here it is, the 1st round of the College football playoff. Kind of. Obviously, if LSU wins, UGA is out, LSU will take the 1 or 2 (most likely 1) spot, and everything is nice and clean for the committee. BUT. Lets suppose for just a second that UGA can find a way to actually win this game. Does anyone out there honestly believe that the committee would send home a 1 top 5 loss LSU home with wins over Auburn, Bama and Florida? Should that happen, and should Ohio St. and Clemson both win, then those 4 stay in and Utah watches the playoff from the house. Everything rides on this one matchup. All the dominoes are lined up, which way they fall will be decided in Atlanta.

UPSET ALERT
BAYLOR VS OKLAHOMA
Here is potentially the most under-rated coaching job of the season. What Matt Rhule inherited at Baylor was a dumpster fire. I don’t even mean from a football standpoint. All the air surrounding that program was toxic and Rhule marched right into the center of it and commanded it with overwhelming presence. Until their first matchup with Oklahoma he had the Bears on the cusp of perfection. Now he has a chance to avenge their only loss from a phenomenal season. (Please see the Memphis vs Cincinnati section if you aren’t sure where I’m going with this.) Baylor has no issues functioning in close games. They’ve found themselves in several barn burners this year and have managed to squeak out of all but one. Tough to keep a good team down. I think Baylor finds a way to sneak out of this one on top and drop some jaws across the country along the way.

Curator’s Picks

OKLAHOMA over BAYLOR
MEMPHIS over CINCINNATI
GEORGIA over LSU
CLEMSON over VIRGINIA
OHIO ST over WISCONSIN
UL-LAFAYETTE over APPALACHIAN ST
C. MICH over MIAMI OH
UAB over FAU
BOISE STATE over HAWAII
UTAH over OREGON

Coach’s Picks

OKLAHOMA over BAYLOR
MEMPHIS over CINCINNATI
LSU over GEORGIA
CLEMSON over VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN over OHIO STATE
UL-LAFAYETTE over APPALACHIAN ST
C. MICH over MIAMI OH
UAB over FAU
BOISE STATE over HAWAII
UTAH over OREGON

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Intangibles

12/3/2019

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The Dawgs and Tigers will compete for the SEC Championship in Atlanta

Sam Burnham, Curator

Conference Championship Weekend has quite the history of upsets and crazy happenings. We go into this weekend every season with expectations of what will happen and who the four playoff teams will be. But it seems like every year that something happens.

What happens is due to one of my favorite factors of the sport. This is the thing that makes college football the greatest sport on Earth.

The Intangibles.

Go back to October 20th of last season. The undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes roll into West Lafayette, Indiana for what should have been a routine drubbing of the Purdue Boilermakers. What happened instead was an entire campus, inspired by a terminally ill student and Purdue super fan, Tyler Trent, encircled the Buckeyes and best then in every aspect of the game. On paper, Purdue wouldn’t have beaten the Buckeyes one time out of ten. On that night though, there was nothing the Buckeyes could have done differently. No matter what, they were going to lose that game.

Wisconsin and Ohio State meet Saturday in Indianapolis

Intangibles are the building blocks of upsets. You never know when a favorite is going to show up flat, when an underdog is going to play like a champion, when a particular defensive scheme is going to foil a particular offense. This game has a depth that goes beyond talent, size, strength, and speed. It’s a magical thing when we look back at Flutie’s “Hail Mary” or Joe Pa’s Nittany Lions shutting down Miami to win the national championship. There’s that Statue of Liberty that Boise State used to stun the Sooners and Cal’s unlikely kick return with some help from the Stanford marching band.

Do not dismiss the underdogs this week. Expect the unexpected. Something crazy will happen. It will impact the playoff. When it happens homers will cheer or cry and the rest of us will smile, Shake our heads, and thank the Lord above for giving us this greatest of all games. These are the moments we long for. This is why we love this game.

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The ABG Poll - 12/3/19

12/3/2019

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Headed into Conference Championship Weekend LSU still holds the top spot. They’ll face third-ranked Georgia in Atlanta on Saturday. Fourth-ranked Ohio State will be facing #7 Wisconsin in Indianapolis. And #6 Baylor will meet #8 Oklahoma in Dallas. The ACC Championship will feature #2 Clemson vs unranked Virginia. On Friday night #5 Utah will play #13 Oregon

That means a lot of crazy things can and probably will happen this weekend. This particular weekend always dishes out more than it’s share of drama as teams pull out all the stops to snag one of those four playoff spots. Upsets, funny bounces, close calls, we’ll see it all. We’ll be discussing that later this week in Curator & Coach. Stay tuned for that.

The ABG Poll
1) LSU 49 (4)
2) Clemson 42
3) Georgia 37
4) Ohio State 35 (1)
5) Utah 26
6) Baylor 18
7) Wisconsin 16
8) Oklahoma 15
9) Memphis 14
10) Florida 7

Lagniappe Group
11) Auburn 6
12) Alabama 4
13) Oregon 3
14) Penn State 2
15) [tie]
Boise State 1
Louisiana 1

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ABG College Football
Our Coverage of a Storied Southern Tradition

When it Comes to the Playoff, Less is More

Curator & Coach - Bowl Week

ABG Poll - 12/8/19

Curator & Coach - Conference Championship Weekend

Intangibles

The ABG Poll - 12/3/19

ABG CFB

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ABG College FootballOur Coverage of a Storied Southern Tradition

When it Comes to the Playoff, Less is More

Curator & Coach - Bowl Week

ABG Poll - 12/8/19

Curator & Coach - Conference Championship Weekend

Intangibles

The ABG Poll - 12/3/19

ABG CFB

Archives

Categories

ABG College Football
Our Coverage of a Storied Southern Tradition