College Football: 2017 Season

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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Your next stop from High School is college. If you want to play professional football (not necessarily the NFL), the next three or four (or maybe more) years of your football-playing life will be in college. Time to hit the books during the weekdays and then ghit the other team on the weekends. There is nothing like college football. In fact, some people even fancy college football more than pro football.

Let's do some retrospective before moving any further. It's been a while since the last snap was played in the College Football Playoff National Championship game as Clemson University defeated Alabama. Clemson came up short the previous season. Now, Clemson is the proverbial hunted instead of being the hunter. The FCS ranks saw the Dukes of James Madison University reach the top of the NCAA FCS mountain. It was the first time a team other than North Dakota State was atop the NCAA FCS food chain. NCAA Division 2 football saw Northwest Missouri State win it all over another D2 powerhouse- North Alabama. And as a Texas native, I'm proud to use "fellow Texas school" to describe the defending NCAA Division 3 champions- the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

So who will be champions this season? Who will be the standout players? We don't know the answers to these questions. These are things we will have to find out later this year. So no matter what this ride will be like, at least GTPlanet has yet another thread to discuss yet another season of college football.


Welcome to the thread on all the goings on of the 2017 season of college football. It's the thread for all college football discussion before, during, and after the season. I actually had planned to release this thread after Super Bowl LI. But, I waited until now to do so. Anyhow... welcome to the new season!
 
The Evil Empires of Pro Football and College Football once again run together. Brian Daboll moves from Belichick control in New England as an assistant (TE coach IIRC) to direct Saban control in Tuscaloosa as OC and QB coach.

Also of note, Liberty University is moving from FCS to FBS...don't know if this year or later.
 
Yeah, I should have mentioned Liberty stepping up to NCAA FBS. So they'll join the likes of Coastal Carolina, also joining the FBS ranks. I still wonder if the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) cleaned up their mess and will probably reinstate their football program. Actually according to a quick search, UAB will return to football in 2017 after the mess they endured a few years ago.
 
A lot of Spring football is going on right now with these scrimmages. I saw a little bit of the Florida State scrimmage earlier today. We are still many months away from the regular season starting up late August or early September. So these Spring games will tide you over a bit before the real college football action happens.
 
That retirement in question is that of Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, after 18 seasons and one National Championship. I wish Bob Stoops well in his retirement.
 
Other than Bob Stoops saying multiple times that he would not hang on for a long time like Bobby Bowden or Joe Paterno, this completely came out of nowhere.
 
Thats' kind of shocking to hear. Even if he wasn't planning on staying for a long, long time, it seems like that just came out of nowhere.
 
I am kind of hearing that Bob Stoops is stepping down with some speculation about his health. That seems understandable. Not like he's getting bored or anything. Still, this is pretty shocking for one of the most solid programs in all of college football.
 
Stoops is a coach that stands with his players. After this last season, trying to support both the players and the program has probably taken a toll. There's also the tidbit I heard about his father dying on the field as a coach and him not wanting to go that way, and his boys are in their senior years of High School, apparently pretty good players themselves, and he probably thought "If I'm gonna do this, why not now." OU is not in bad shape, the coaching staff seems solid enough, and it's not a Texas power so transition shouldn't be a PITA.
 
Recently, all the Media Days talk have been going on with most of the major conferences. I just don't see Clemson repeating as champions. Only way I see Clemson repeat as champs is if Alabama gets bored and lets Clemson be champs. I do have somewhat of a casual season preview of the 2017 season of college football, but I'll save a lot of my commentary until that preview. But besides that, I think Michigan will probably seek a modicum of revenge after not making the College Football Playoff last season.

Love you some college football? If so, get psyched once late August comes!
 
ESPNU is showing highlights of the Top 25 College Football games of this past season. So if you're wanting to get psyched for college football season, be sure to check out some of the games from last season. One I saw was No. 24 on their list- Toledo at BYU. It won't be too long before college football returns in anger.
 
Ole Miss head coach Huge Freeze resigned from his position. He had reportedly used a cell phone provided by the university to call a female escort service along and would have been terminated if he didn't resign. Story here.
 
I figured I'd discuss my beloved Houston Cougars this upcoming football season. If last season didn't have such head coaching drama, we might have finished last season with a better record. So here is the University of Houston's schedule:

* = conference (American) games

SEP 2: at Texas-San Antonio
SEP 9: at Arizona
SEP 16: Rice
SEP 23: Texas Tech
SEP 30: at Temple*
OCT 7: at SMU*
OCT 14: at Tulsa*
OCT 19: Memphis*
OCT 19: East Carolina*
~~~ bye week ~~~
NOV 4: at South Florida* <<< Charlie Strong's new school, after his tenure at Texas
NOV 18: at Tulane*
NOV 24: Navy*

I think we'll be okay, but we're not going to have that world-beater prestige we had last season. I am anticipating an above average season for Houston. by the way, I'm pleased we play against Rice. The Houston/Rice rivalry is a good crosstown rivalry. About a five-mile distance from the two schools.


I could bring up some teams at random, but feel free to chat about your favorite team(s) if you wish.
 
Ara Parseghian died at the age of 94 today. He was one of the very best coaches in all of college football coaching for one of the proudest programs in college football for Notre Dame. My condolences go out to all who known and loved the former coaching great. Here is an article on the late former Fighting Irish coach: https://sports.yahoo.com/ara-parseghian-man-ahead-time-183050283.html


On a more positive note, we are less than a month away from the 2017 college football season starting! I think NCAA Division 2 will start earlier than everybody else, but it's almost time to hit the books... and the football field!
 
Coaches poll came out today....

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Anything jump out at you? I see Texas got a nice Tom Hermann jump.

My Wolverines at #9 is a joke. Way too high, should be in the 15 to 20 range. We lost way too many starters on both sides of the ball, defense especially.
 
I kind of have my qualms about Oklahoma in this list. I guess I'm okay with Michigan at the No. 9 slot. I am also okay with Top 25 love for Texas, Tennessee, and Utah. Just remember, though- the key here is PRESEASON. There will be plenty of time to determine who all among these teams are for real once the regular season plays itself out.
 
I guess in honor of our @wvmgmidget , I will make mention to the West Virginia Mountaineers for this post. When I was learning about college sports, West Virginia was in the Big East. WVU nowadays is in the Big XII. This is the 2017 schedule for the lovely blue and gold colors of WVU:

* = conference games

SEP 3: at Virginia Tech
SEP 9: East Carolina
SEP 16: Delaware State
~~~ bye week ~~~
SEP 23: at Kansas*
OCT 7: at Texas Christian (TCU)*
OCT 14: Texas Tech*
OCT 21: at Baylor*
OCT 28: Oklahoma State*
NOV 4: Iowa State*
NOV 11: at Kansas State*
NOV 18: Texas*
NOV 25: at Oklahoma*

I don't think the Mountaineers will make too much noise in the Big XII this season. Not saying they will flat out fail, but I do see them at least making a Bowl game. Realistic long shot is that they win the Big XII and maybe place in the Top 10. If that realistic long shot happens, I don't think they'll be invited to the College Football Playoff. They still should do quite well. I am a bit surprised they don't play their Backyard Brawl rivals, Pittsburgh, this season. Or maybe I'm in the past in collegiate rivalries.


I may feature a few more schools just to get the hype rolling. You all are free to discuss almost anything college football related until the season starts proper.
 
JohnBM01
I guess in honor of our @wvmgmidget , I will make mention to the West Virginia Mountaineers for this post. When I was learning about college sports, West Virginia was in the Big East. WVU nowadays is in the Big XII. This is the 2017 schedule for the lovely blue and gold colors of WVU:

* = conference games

SEP 3: at Virginia Tech
SEP 9: East Carolina
SEP 16: Delaware State
~~~ bye week ~~~
SEP 23: at Kansas*
OCT 7: at Texas Christian (TCU)*
OCT 14: Texas Tech*
OCT 21: at Baylor*
OCT 28: Oklahoma State*
NOV 4: Iowa State*
NOV 11: at Kansas State*
NOV 18: Texas*
NOV 25: at Oklahoma*

I don't think the Mountaineers will make too much noise in the Big XII this season. Not saying they will flat out fail, but I do see them at least making a Bowl game. Realistic long shot is that they win the Big XII and maybe place in the Top 10. If that realistic long shot happens, I don't think they'll be invited to the College Football Playoff. They still should do quite well. I am a bit surprised they don't play their Backyard Brawl rivals, Pittsburgh, this season. Or maybe I'm in the past in collegiate rivalries.


I may feature a few more schools just to get the hype rolling. You all are free to discuss almost anything college football related until the season starts proper.
Click to expand...
Well I'm hoping they can pull some upsets. It's usually a rollercoaster ride of season with extreme highs and lows.

Leaving the Big East was a huge fiasco. They lost they're rivalry with Syracuse as well and aren't able to play the Friends of Coal bowl with Marshall anymore due to scheduling conflicts. Hopefully many of these old rivalries will be revived.

The Backyard brawl will resume in 2022 and will finally give Mountainer fans a chance to chant "Eat 🤬 Pitt" in the stands once again.
 
ESPN's countdown to the start of the 2017 season notes that today is 21 days until the start of the new college football season. You all probably know I love college football more than I do pro football. So I can't wait for the new season to start!


In another sort of semi-random team previews, I figured I'd show some love for our @tbwhhs and talk about the Tennessee Volunteers. We all know SEC Football is life; everything else is just details. The Vols' 2017 looks like this:

* = conference (SEC) games

---Tennessee Volunteers 2017 Schedule ---
SEP 4: at Georgia Tech
SEP 9: Indiana State
SEP 16: at Florida*
SEP 23: Massachusetts
~~~ bye week ~~~
SEP 30: Georgia*
OCT 14: South Carolina*
OCT 21: at Alabama*
OCT 28: at Kentucky*
NOV 4: Southern Mississippi
NOV 11: at Missouri*
NOV 18: Louisiana State*
NOV 25: Vanderbilt*

There were some high expectations for Tennessee last season. By far their toughest games will be at Alabama and hosting LSU. Going to Florida isn't a cake walk either. I am hopeful Tennessee has an above average or better season. I don't see them taking the SEC, but I do think Tennessee will have a very good season. How good remains to be seen.
 
With the season closing in, I came across an interesting article from Bleacher Report regarding not just how Tom Herman plans on returning Texas to relevance but also how Texas itself plans on returning to relevance. The article mentioned why and how they fell and what Tom Herman is doing about it to right the ship. I'll link that article here.
 
I am a University of Houston fan, but I have great respect for Texas Longhorns football. I think they are going to bounce back. It may take a bit more time, but I think Herman just might be the guy. Herman was a great coach for UH. He'll do wonders for Texas unless the Longhorns continually falter.
 
Hey, guess what? COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK! Here I was thinking college football starts up next weekend. No... there are a handful of games going on right now. Games like Portland State at BYU and Oregon State at Colorado State are going on right now. So folks... welcome to the new season!
 
I'd say it's sad for Rice to get smashed by Stanford. However, I'm a University of Houston fan, so while I do feel sorry for Rice, I don't feel THAT sorry for them. Stanford still plenty baller in that match.
 
I just read on FOX Sports 1 that the LSU vs. BYU game will be moved from NRG Stadium in Houston to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. This is all because of Hurricane Harvey's impact on the Houston area. Maybe NRG Stadium got inundated with flood waters to where it couldn't host this college football match.
 
Stetson University DB Nicholas Blakely collapsed and died during a practice. Story here.

Condolences to his family, his teammates, and to Stetson University for their loss.
 
I echo my sentiments to the fallen Stetson Hatter.

The University of Houston and University of Texas-San Antonio will have their game postponed. It was slated for this weekend. The Labor Day Classic rivalry between Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M will be moved from Labor Day weekend to Thanksgiving weekend. All of this... because of Hurricane Harvey's impact to Texas.
 
Can you feel it? Ladies and gentlemen, it is *officially* the start of college football, at least to ESPN. Labor Day Weekend is one of the finest weekends in all of college football because you don't have the NFL to contend with for viewership. Even then some people would rather that college football than the NFL. Still- it's great for collegiate mayhem to begin even though a number of teams already tackled each others' brains out last week.

Anyhow, enjoy the new season! Good luck to all of your favorite team(s).
 
I hope you folks are enjoying some Labor Day weekend college football! A few musings of mine...

* Hey, Michigan fans... how do you like the Wolverines wearing all maize? I think I heard it was the first time Michigan went all-maize since 1928 or something like that. They look so much different than the usual blue with maize colors. Michigan currently ahead of Florida 26-17 with 4:05 left in the 3rd Quarter. This game is being played in Arlington, Texas, USA at AT&T Stadium.

* So far, so bad for Texas. Maryland defeated Texas 51-41 in Austin. Texas was #23 in the nation. They never lost a home opener since 1999. Big win for the Terrapins over the Texas Longhorns.


Again- enjoy the games! Good luck to your favorite teams.
 

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