College Football: 2016 Season

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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College football has its own charm and style aside from its professional counterpart. For grade schoolers stepping up to college, it is a chance to take on more intense challenges. It doesn't matter what college or university you love- college football is fun to watch and can be quite chaotic. There's nothing like a Thursday night or a Saturday where you just tailgate, recite your favorite school's fight song, and all that good stuff.

There's still a lot of time before the games that really matter begin. As of this post, you'll have your Spring Training football with teams prepping for the new season. So let's talk college football already!
 
Here are a few musings...

* The NCAA recently rescinded the ban on satellite camps. This surely helps the recruiting aspect.

* In 2018, the University of Idaho will step down from NCAA FBS and go to NCAA FCS, and they will play their football in the Big Sky Conference. It will be cool since it better defines their rivalry with Idaho State. This means Boise State will have the state of Idaho all to themselves as far as FBS schools are concerned.

* I am hearing that the University of Miami and the University of Florida Florida will play against each other in 2019 in Orlando. It is a rather rare neutral-site game involving two of the most storied schools in the Sunshine State. It will be great seeing these two go at it.


These are just a few thoughts just to keep this thread active.
 
The controversy regarding satellite camps continues a bit, as I heard the University of Michigan set up a satellite camp for recruiting in... wait for it- Australia. Can you imagine Michigan landing recruits to play gridiron football from Australia? I can only think of Australian Rules Football and of course- rugby. You have kickers who make rugby punts. It would be interesting if some Aussies played some big time college football at a major school like the University of Michigan.

For those of you who think certain other nations aren't good at gridiron football, you'd be surprised what other nations have fielded some at least halfway decent teams. A long time ago here on GTPlanet, I made a thread about the World Cup of American Football whereas the United States battled Japan in the championship game in Japan. There is a league in Poland. Of course, you have Canada with their own brand of gridiron football. Thing is, gridiron football is not as much an international game as basketball or football (as in soccer).

Still something interesting I wanted to share.
 
I had a feeling Briles was going to get fired with how that one turned out. That scandal was a complete disaster from the beginning with how it was treated. The writing was on the wall after the president got fired.
 
Since Art Briles used to coach my beloved University of Houston Cougars, this one hurts because I had such respect for Art Briles. This is still a troublesome situation. This is almost as much a dark cloud as Louisville basketball of late or even the Duke lacrosse deal.
 
There have lately been changes to Baylor at the head coaching position and at the Administration level in spite of the horrible scandal. Baylor is going to be screwed for some time.
 
Old news from earlier this month or last month is that Michigan and Notre Dame will renew their rivalry starting in 2018 and 2019 as a home-and-home series. If you know ANYTHING about college sports, rivalries are what makes college sports (let alone college football) great. Some rivalries just mostly have been dead because of conference realignment and such. Like here in Texas, I still am sad the Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry (Lone Star Showdown) is no more since Texas A&M moved on to the SEC.

Anyhow, it's great seeing two powerhouse programs like Michigan and Notre Dame resume their rivalry, albeit in a few years time.
 
After previously dismissing expansion, the Big XII has opened up to expansion. The option that seems to make the most sense for a future school to be picked up by the Big XII is my beloved University of Houston. Heck, if the Big XII could, they could try to gather up some of the schools of the former Southwest Conference (including Houston). It will be interesting to see who gets considered for expansion and who actually joins... or maybe gets dropped.
 
Houston makes a lot of sense, especially from a football perspective, but the biggest thing against them is that they don't bring a new tv market to the league.

I think BYU and Cincinnati are going to be their top choices. BYU brings a large fan base and the Salt Lake City market, and Cincinnati has a large market and it gives the conference a school close to West Virginia. The biggest hurdle with BYU would be if they can work around their the schools no Sunday games policy.

There is also a rumor going around that FedEx would be willing to buy Memphis' way into the conference.
 
The Big XII mostly represents the central United States both in the south and in the north. I do think BYU would make a great addition to the conference. Houston (as in the city of Houston) is usually noted as a factory of football talent. When I was watching and listening to The Doug Gottlieb Show (co-hosted by Damon A.), he made points about how Houston players play at other schools like Texas, Baylor, LSU, and schools like that. All of which VERY true. The only real bit of concern would be if the Big XII had one extra Texas school. I even get a bit "fanboyish" when I hear of Houston-area players playing at major schools nationwide. The University of Houston used to play in the old Southwest Conference many moons ago. Since? They've mostly been relegated to Conference USA and now the American Athletic Conference (which is like the former Big East football). Houston has come along over the years recently. UH would make crazy money if they were picked up by the Big XII considering how much the school has grown especially in recent years. I even been a Houston Cougars game at their renovated stadium- TDECU Stadium. It is a fabulous stadium compared to the former Robertson Stadium.

So I can see Houston and BYU as candidates for Big XII expansion. Not too sure about Cincinnati, though.
 
I was watching a re-air of College Football Live last night and they were saying that Cincinnati is a candidate primarily to give West Virginia a natural rival in the conference and to help geographically because as they said West Virginia is "on an island" by itself.

We used to get some high school games from Houston during football season on the regional Comcast sports channel here is Tennessee, so I'm very familiar with how much talent there is in the area. I heard someone say that if Houston got into a Power 5 conference that it would make a significant impact on Texas, LSU, Alabama, and Texas A&M's recruiting, and that it could push Houston to become a perennial top 10 team.

Interestingly, I also read on espn.com today that Houston's AD met with the Pac-12 Conference last week.
 
The 2016 season of college football is over a month away from starting, at least on the NCAA FBS level. I guess I'll preview tbwhhs' Tennessee Volunteers for this post. Here is the 2016 schedule for the Vols:

--- Tennessee Volunteers 2016 Schedule ---
Sep. 1: Appalachian State
Sep. 10: Virginia Tech
Sep. 17: Ohio
Sep. 24: Florida
Oct. 1: at Georgia
Oct. 8: at Texas A&M
Oct. 15: Alabama
Oct. 29: at South Carolina
Nov. 5: Tennessee Tech
Nov. 12: Kentucky
Nov. 19: Missouri
Nov. 26: at Vanderbilt

Tennessee is actually ranked 22nd in the preseason polls. Alabama is still the top dog in the SEC, but Tennessee has a chance to maybe take down some of their conference foes. I still think Rocky Top is still one of the toughest places to play in.
 
JohnBM01
The 2016 season of college football is over a month away from starting, at least on the NCAA FBS level. I guess I'll preview tbwhhs' Tennessee Volunteers for this post. Here is the 2016 schedule for the Vols:

--- Tennessee Volunteers 2016 Schedule ---
Sep. 1: Appalachian State
Sep. 10: Virginia Tech
Sep. 17: Ohio
Sep. 24: Florida
Oct. 1: at Georgia
Oct. 8: at Texas A&M
Oct. 15: Alabama
Oct. 29: at South Carolina
Nov. 5: Tennessee Tech
Nov. 12: Kentucky
Nov. 19: Missouri
Nov. 26: at Vanderbilt

Tennessee is actually ranked 22nd in the preseason polls. Alabama is still the top dog in the SEC, but Tennessee has a chance to maybe take down some of their conference foes. I still think Rocky Top is still one of the toughest places to play in.
Click to expand...

This years team is the most talented one that Tennessee has had in probably 10 years, and its also the first time since the Fulmer years that they are expected to contend for the SEC crown. The key to this season is going to be how they deal with those expectations. The 4 week stretch that starts with Florida and ends with the "Third Saturday in October" game against Alabama has to be one of the hardest in the country.

Anyone who says they are a college football fan needs to visit Neyland Stadium once, especially when the Vols are a good team. Its just a wild atmosphere.
 
Neyland Stadium. I forgot the name of that stadium, so thanks for that. It surely is a place for college football fans to put on their bucket list of places to visit. 100K+ fans can fill up this stadium. That four-game stretch you mentioned? That is pretty tough. If they go through that Florida-Alabama stretch even at 2-2, Tennessee should be fine the rest of the way.
 
North Dakota State University Schedule

8/27/2016 Charleston Southern
9/10/2016 Eastern Washington
9/17/2016 Iowa
10/1/2016 Illinois State
10/8/2016 Missouri State
10/15/2016 South Dakota State
10/22/2016 Western Illinois
10/29/2016 Northern Iowa
11/5/2016 Youngstown State
11/12/2016 Indiana State
11/19/2016 South Dakota

Can we make it to 6 in a row?
 
According to ESPN, today is about 29 days away from the 2016 season starting up. Can you feel it? Are you ready? Almost time to see High Schoolers step up to college and current college students eye the pro ranks (not necessarily the NFL). Can't wait for college football season, personally!
 
Don't buy too much into this, but the preseason rankings were released recently. Here's your Top 25 according to the Amway Coaches Poll:

() = number of 1st Place votes

01 - Alabama (55)
02 - Clemson (7)
03 - Oklahoma
04 - Florida State (1)
05 - Ohio State
06 - Louisiana State
07 - Stanford
08 - Michigan
09 - Notre Dame
10 - Tennessee (1)
11 - Michigan State
12 - Ole Miss
13 - Houston
14 - TCU
15 - Iowa
16 - Georgia
17 - USCal
18 - Washington
19 - Oklahoma State
20 - North Carolina
21 - Baylor
22 - Oregon
23 - Louisville
24 - UCLA
25 - Florida

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/4/12...s-poll-alabama-clemson-oklahoma-florida-state


These will be 25 teams to keep an eye on in NCAA FBS. I'm actually surprised to see my beloved University of Houston on this list, let alone being up to 13th. What say you about these teams in this coaches poll?
 
JohnBM01
Don't buy too much into this, but the preseason rankings were released recently. Here's your Top 25 according to the Amway Coaches Poll:

() = number of 1st Place votes

01 - Alabama (55)
02 - Clemson (7)
03 - Oklahoma
04 - Florida State (1)
05 - Ohio State
06 - Louisiana State
07 - Stanford
08 - Michigan
09 - Notre Dame
10 - Tennessee (1)
11 - Michigan State
12 - Ole Miss
13 - Houston
14 - TCU
15 - Iowa
16 - Georgia
17 - USCal
18 - Washington
19 - Oklahoma State
20 - North Carolina
21 - Baylor
22 - Oregon
23 - Louisville
24 - UCLA
25 - Florida

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/4/12...s-poll-alabama-clemson-oklahoma-florida-state


These will be 25 teams to keep an eye on in NCAA FBS. I'm actually surprised to see my beloved University of Houston on this list, let alone being up to 13th. What say you about these teams in this coaches poll?
Click to expand...

Thats probably about right, though I'm a little surprised that LSU is that high.
 
Sad news in the world of college football... Bill Dooley died today at the age of 82. He coached for over 26 years at North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. He played his college 'ball at Mississippi State. Surely my thoughts and prayers go out to all who known and loved Bill Dooley.
 
Air Force just unveiled their new helmet for this season, which is a tribute to old fighter jets.



They rank right up there with the Navy helmets that had the ships on them as some of my favorites.
 
I saw those helmets on "The Doug Gottlieb Show" earlier today. And yes- those helmets for Air Force are amazing. The Navy helmets and stuff are better to me, but those Air Force helmets are very cool.
 
The Associated Press came along with the Preseason Poll. Get to know your Top 25 for the upcoming 2016 season. Is your favorite team on this list:

01 - Alabama
02 - Clemson
03 - Oklahoma
04 - Florida State
05 - Louisiana State (LSU)
06 - Ohio State
07 - Michigan
08 - Stanford
09 - Tennessee
10 - Notre Dame
11 - Mississippi (Ole Miss)
12 - Michigan State
13 - Texas Christian (TCU)
14 - Washington
15 - Houston
16 - UCLA
17 - Iowa
18 - Georgia
19 - Louisville
20 - USCal
21 - Oklahoma State
22 - North Carolina
23 - Baylor
24 - Oregon
25 - Florida

Source: http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/rankings/ap/2016-preseason-ap-poll/

Yes... my beloved University of Houston is in the AP Preseason Top 25. I'm still VERY nervous (yet excited) about the Houston Cougars taking on the Oklahoma Sooners on September 3rd. The new season is coming, and I can't wait. So what do you think about this list?
 
Ten. Days. Away. Can you believe it? ESPN's countdown at least has the upcoming season being 10 days away. Saturdays are going to be meaningful again once the college football season commences.

Are you a Michigan fan? If so, this is what your 2016 schedule looks like:

--- Michigan Wolverines: 2016 Schedule ---
* Sep. 3: Hawaii
* Sep. 10: UCF
* Sep. 17: Colorado
* Sep. 24: Penn State
* Oct. 1: Wisconsin
* Oct. 8: at Rutgers
* Oct. 22: Illinois
* Oct. 29: at Michigan State
* Nov. 5: Maryland
* Nov. 12: at Iowa
* Nov. 19: Indiana
* Nov. 26: at Ohio State

The three games I'm most interested here are the ones at Michigan State, at Iowa, and at Ohio State. Michigan may clearly get to a double-digit win count this season. Playoff-bound, though? I am a bit sketchy on that. I think Michigan could very well be frontrunners in the case of having a Big Ten team in the College Football Playoff.


I may randomly share a few more schedules just to keep this thread buzzing. But college football fans... get excited! The new season is forthcoming!
 
Of all the games to start this upcoming season, one of them will be California vs. Hawaii/Hawai'i. That game will be played a LONG way from home. How far? Try Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hawaii is much closer to Sydney than UC-Berkley. The University of Hawaii-Manoa is about 5,054 miles away from Sydney. UC-Berkley is about 7,433 miles away from Sydney. I made these measurements playing around with Google Earth. In American time, the game will start at around Noon Eastern Daylight Time. So it will probably be nighttime in Sydney. At ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

And by the way... that game is tomorrow. So get ready to start the college football season a bit early!


[UPDATE] That game is actually tonight at 10:00 PM EDT. It's on the ESPN networks.
 
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On ESPNU's Bottom Line, I read the University of Tennessee will wear stickers honoring the late women's basketball coaching legend Pat Summitt. I think this is VERY cool. It is great to honor an institution like Pat Summitt. Fine gesture by the Volunteers.
 
JohnBM01
On ESPNU's Bottom Line, I read the University of Tennessee will wear stickers honoring the late women's basketball coaching legend Pat Summitt. I think this is VERY cool. It is great to honor an institution like Pat Summitt. Fine gesture by the Volunteers.
Click to expand...

It was something that has been rumored for a while, but wasn't confirmed until today.

Also, Bristol construction update:

bristol.png
 
Neyland Stadium seats about maybe 50K less people than Bristol Motor Speedway. Wonder if fans will pack this house like almost any game at Neyland Stadium...
 

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