Laquon Treadwell is a tough matchup for any defense. (Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports)
Gas it up, load the cooler, turn up the tunes and hop on board. This College Football Playoff boat is about set to sail on its maiden voyage, leaving computer-based BCS Island without even looking back.
No more relying on arithmetic or logical operations to automatically select our national championship game participants. Uh, uh. No sir. The new four-team playoff format will be determined by a highly intelligent, football-savvy 13-person committee, which includes a Lieutenant General (Mike Gould), a former U.S. Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice), a former Bobby Petrino boss (Arkansas AD Jeff Long; I know, there’s a number of those) a Rhodes Scholar (USC AD Pat Haden) and the Godfather of quarterbacks, Archie Manning, just to name a few.
The committee, which will receive no pay, has been given an iPad specifically loaded with software that will allow them to watch any game at any time so they will not have to travel to every game. During the midway point of the season, the committee will begin to “rank” its Top 25, for informational purposes only, all the way until the final vote (committee members will be excused on vote if they have an allegiance to a particular school in the playoff hunt) on Dec. 6-7. That’s when the four teams will be revealed.
And just to throw it out there, none of these extremely talented individuals will show any bias (wink, wink), and the group as a whole will be required to pick the best four teams at the end based on win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, comparison of results against common opponents and conference championships.
That’s right, no more computer mumbo jumbo folks. The future of the college football postseason rests in the hands of 13 individuals. Let’s just hope for their sake that it all shakes out like it should. Americans like to complain. And poor old No. 5’s fan base will be doing a lot of that when it gets left out in the cold.
Good luck to your team this season. And for the record, I like Auburn, Alabama, FSU and Michigan State to make the first ever College Football Playoff. To the games we go …
Thursday, August 28
No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 9 South Carolina 5:00 p.m. CT
A lot of media folks are high on the Gamecocks this season, but losing talented players like quarterback Connor Shaw, defensive linemen Jadeveon Clowney and Kelcy Quarles and corners Victor Hampton and Jimmy Legree will be felt. Tailback Mike Davis is banged up and middle linebacker Skai Moore, the team’s top defensive playmaker a year ago, won’t start due to disciplinary purposes. That’s a lot of personnel issues. Texas A&M didn’t have a defense last year, but it added some serious talent to that side of the ball in the offseason. Sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill is a dual-threat who can hurt opponents with his feet, and he will operate behind a talented, and experienced, offensive line. All the aforementioned factors should give the Aggies a good shot at pulling the upset.
The Lowe Down: Texas A&M 27, South Carolina 31
Boise State vs. No. 18 Ole Miss (Atlanta) 7:00 p.m. CT
Before you get caught up in thinking this is the Kellen Moore-led Broncos, think again. Moore is playing the in NFL and his former head coach, Chris Peterson, flew the coop to Washington. I know Ole Miss has some question marks on its offensive line, but the Rebels have some quality talent on D and quarterback Bo Wallace and receiver Laquon Treadwell can give any defense problems. Treadwell is a future pro and I’m not sure Boise has anyone that can cover him. Look for the Rebels to roll here.
The Lowe Down: Ole Miss 30, Boise State 13
In other Thursday games:
Rutgers 30, Washington State 33
Weber State 7, No. 19 Arizona State 65
Friday, August 29
BYU at UCONN 6:00 p.m. CT
BYU quarterback Taysom Hill is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in America and tailback Jamaal Williams is a big-time runner (1,233 yards last season). That should be an interesting matchup against a Huskies defense that ranked 23rd nationally against the run a year ago. The Cougars get the win here, but it won’t be an easy one.
The Lowe Down: BYU 24, UCONN 13
Saturday’s picks coming soon…
