Why is it that CBS SN is the only one to pick up the game on a saturday night that basically has no other games or competition?

There only game close in time to our start time is Cincinnati @ Colorado which got an ESPN slot.

Three games at 5pm: SMU @ Duke, SJSU @ FSU, Kansas @ KSU which are on ACCN, TruTV and the Deuce respectively.

Fox mothership has the world series - is that on FS1 too?

Junior College pricks

First game of the season stats.

Wells 6 points in 23 minutes
Thompson 22 points in 26 minutes
Gueye and Jones DNP.

Benched in favor of O'Connell, who despite having a pretty good stat line (27-40, 1 TD, one int), lost 32-13 today.

Minshew's pick-6 last week effectively lost that game, overthrowing his receiver who would probably have scored. 14-point swing. Then another pick later. Totally reminded me of Jeff Tuel's ill-fated pick six (I can't remember who he was playing for or against). It effectively ended his pro career. Shitty play call BTW. He could have been something. UDF starting his first (and last?) game.

So we shall see. Luckily for him he has $15M guaranteed. Gardner is a smart guy, I'm sure he is set for life.

Who ya got?

While UNLV is having a big year, I’m going with BSU Friday night.

COUGS in the CFP? What needs to happen for WSU to defy the odds...​

Jon Wilner
Oct. 24, 2024 at 10:30 am

Eight weeks in, Washington State remains in contention.

Not for a bowl berth. As winners of six of their first seven games, the Cougars have already locked up a postseason bid.

Not for the conference title, either. In this unprecedented season, there is no Pac-12 title available.

But the Cougars are in contention for the biggest prize: a berth in the College Football Playoff.

That’s the Hotline’s opinion, but we aren’t alone. ESPN’s playoff predictor gives Washington State a 13 percent chance to qualify.

That’s not much, but it’s not zero. And there are plenty of teams, including a few that left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, with zero chance to reach the CFP.

In our view, the ESPN forecast is a tad optimistic. It’s based on the metrics. When you include the human element that will surely inform the CFP selection committee’s decisions — we’re talking about brand bias, of course — then WSU’s real-world outlook is a darker shade of gray.

Of course, everything hinges on the Cougars (6-1) winning out. They must sweep the final five games to finish 11-1 in order to make the situation interesting when the committee gathers on the weekend of Dec. 8 to select and seed the 12-team field.

That won’t be easy. In fact, Washington State’s faint hopes could be extinguished this weekend by San Diego State, which has had an extra week to prepare for the Cougars’ visit.

But only one of Washington State’s five remaining opponents currently has a winning record: Oregon State, which hosts the Cougars in the penultimate game of the season. The others (SDSU, Wyoming, Utah State and New Mexico) possess a combined record of 8-19.

(If the Cougars are 9-1 when they head to Corvallis, the competitive dynamic will be fascinating: The Beavers would be better served by losing because of the immense benefits that would come with their Pac-12 partner reaching the CFP.)

But an 11-1 record alone probably wouldn’t get the Cougars into the playoff. Remember, the Pac-12’s depleted state means WSU cannot qualify as a conference champion. The only pathway available is through the at-large pool, where the Cougars would compete with Notre Dame and the best teams in the Power Four that don’t win their conference titles.

In the expanded playoff, the five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids. The next seven teams in the CFP rankings fill out the at-large field.

Put another way: At 11-1, the Cougars would need to finish the season ranked higher than a slew of two- and three-loss teams in the SEC and Big Ten that played tougher schedules, to say nothing of their advantages in the subjective and subconscious factors that will loom in the committee room.

But a slim chance is a chance nonetheless. In our view, the Cougars need help on four fronts, over and above running the table to finish 11-1:

1. Above all, the Cougars need Texas Tech — the team they walloped in Pullman in September — to win the Big 12 title.

Nothing would bolster their case for inclusion more than a head-to-head victory over a Power Four conference champion that’s headed to the CFP as an automatic qualifier.

If that stands as the dream scenario, the reality is far murkier. The Red Raiders (5-2) are merely one of several teams in the hunt in the chaotic Big 12, so let’s not presume this step plays out in WSU’s favor.

2. The Cougars need No. 17 Boise State to run the table in the Mountain West, win the conference title and capture the Group of Five’s automatic bid with a 12-1 record.

If the lone blemish on WSU’s resume is a road loss to a CFP participant whose only loss was by three points at top-ranked Oregon, the Cougars’ resume becomes far more palatable to the committee — especially if Texas Tech doesn’t win the Big 12.

3. The Cougars need Notre Dame to lose somewhere, anywhere, down the stretch.

In this regard, they are not alone. As an Independent, the Irish (6-1) are only eligible for the CFP through the at-large pool. If they finish 11-1, which is highly plausible given their modest upcoming schedule, the Irish will gobble an at-large spot that would otherwise go to the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or SEC.

Or Washington State.

4. As grotesque as the reality might be to their fans, the Cougars need Washington (4-3) to finish well in the Big Ten. A top-half placement for the Huskies would add shine to WSU’s victory in the Apple Cup.

The best result possible, of course, would be a UW victory over Oregon in the regular-season finale.

All in all, we give the Cougars a 5 percent chance to reach the CFP.

Which, again, is better than a zero percent chance.

Jon Wilner

As discussed, looks like the Beav's twice. Now up to 10 games.

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Cougs up to 26th. A win over San Diego St should get them in the top 25.

I missed the announcement on this. Toledo is on the schedule for next year. 2-3 more to go. I believe we only need 11. And can do a home and home with the Beavs if needed.

Here's how the ratings for the PAC-12/MW/AAC-4/Texas State compare by network. As you'd expect, network distribution and whether or not a Power 4 opponent is involved has a large impact on the ratings.

(Data from https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/)



CBS

Fox

NBC

CW

ESPN

ESPN2

FS1

FS2
Big Ten Network


ESPNU

truTV

Absolutely awesome and deserved with a side order of Fusc.

Close 2nd to the sticking at midfield in 2021 for fuw.

Day 3 and no report on the airmen yet. Doesn't sound as if they have physically gotten to the crash site yet. I saw a twin rotor (Chinook?) chopper fly out of Yakima headed that way just a bit ago. Seems pretty certain to me that the pilots went down with the plane. They would have spotted parachutes by now.

I don't know that I trust the numbers here--these are some kinds of estimates based on historical booster support, not actual, hard collections data, since nobody has access to it--but I would expect them to be directionally accurate. Oregon State is second-to-last among P5 schools, which for this purpose included the two current members of the Pac-12. WSU is one spot better. I'm dubious that WSU actually has received the estimated $3.2 million in collective funding.

Mainly just for fun and a reminder of where WSU likely stands.

Today marks the first time ever the Rainbow Warriors play in Pullman.

Hawaii leads the series 3-2.

(4) games were played in Honolulu, and one game played in Seattle.

What's up with Seattle?
The COUGS were scheduled to host Ohio State at Seahawks' stadium on 9/12/09, but the Buckeyes paid WSU $450,000 to get out of the contract which opted for a Saturday night game against USC instead.

We lost that game to the Warriors, 38-20, which was the last time we played them, 15 years ago, which marked the first time Hawaii beat a Power 5 team, (BCS back then) in 7 years.

He’s not a perfect QB by any means, but I love the way he plays. If we can hang onto him, we’ll be an exciting team to watch, which is exactly what we need to be during these bridge years.

Women win 99-54 in an exhibition against LC State College. Starters were Tuhina, Wallack, Villa, Villa, Kpetikou (RFR). True freshmen Abraham (11 & 5) and Dart (19 & 6) next in minutes.

It's an exhibition, but with Stanford coming in game 2 this might have been more serious than past seasons in terms of getting ready.

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in the WCC Preseason poll. GU with 1 more vote picked #1. OSU picked #4.

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Guy was all class. Very good and polished at his craft.
RIP

Tony Bennet retires effective immediately

of course there could be another reason, but Im struggling to think what it could be.

Ridiculous travel schedule not sustainable for former Pac-12 football teams​

USC, UCLA, Washington, Cal and Stanford are criss-crossing the country - and losing​

Ben Sherman| Sports Illustrated/ Oct 15, 2024


Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State are having more success this season than any former Pac-12 program except Oregon. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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After finishing 14-1 in its final season in the Pac-12 - and advancing all the way to the CFP National Championship game - the Washington Huskies were expected to ride that momentum into the Big Ten.

USC, UCLA and Oregon were expected to do the same.

Entering Week 8 of the 2024 college football season, the Ducks are the only Big Ten program doing their part to make the disbanded Pac-12 look good. Oregon (6-0) is ranked No. 2 in the country and is coming off a thrilling 32-31 victory over Ohio State.

The other three programs are a combined 8-11 overall and 0-5 on the road in the Big Ten. USC (3-3) is arguably the biggest disappointment as Lincoln Riley's program continues to backslide. Midway through his third season in Los Angeles, the 41-year-old Riley is 22-11 - three games worse than his predecessor Clay Helton was at the same juncture.

Riley is clearly feeling the heat, and has been testy in his recent postgame press conferences. After losing to Minnesota he snapped at a reporter's question about the biggest play in the game and refused to let his player answer. After Saturday's overtime loss to Penn State, he was defensive and lamented the Trojans' tough schedule. Welcome to the Big Ten, Lincoln.

"The reality of it is we've played the toughest schedule in the country the first six games, we've had a chance to win all six games," Riley said. "And that's hard to do. Like, to put yourself in position to win these games is friggin' hard to do to begin with."

Arizona State Turnaround​

Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo (4) has played a big role in the Sun Devils' surprising start to the season. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Of the four Pac-12 teams that jumped to the Big 12, Arizona State was the afterthought. The Sun Devils were coming off a 3-9 season and picked to finish dead last in their first season in the Big 12.

Six games into the season, the Sun Devils are making the Pac-12 look good. Kenny Dillingham's program is 5-1 and coming off a nationally televised 27-19 upset of then-No. 16 Utah. The Sun Devils aren't ranked, but they're knocking on the door after receiving 39 votes in this week's AP Top 25 poll.

The other three former Pac-12 programs are faring better than their Big Ten counterparts, but none of them are ranked. Utah, Arizona and Colorado are a combined 11-7 overall, but just 4-5 in conference play.

Consider this: If the old Pac-12 was still together, the conference would have one ranked team (No. 2 Oregon) heading into the second half of the 2024 season. Last season at this point the Pac-12 had six ranked teams: No. 5 Washington, No. 9 Oregon, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 14 Utah, No. 18 USC and No. 25 UCLA.

Travel Schedule Not Sustainable​

The Washington Huskies have already played Big Ten road games at Rutgers (2,402 air miles) and Iowa (1,464 air miles). They still have to travel to Indiana (1,866 air miles) and Penn State (2,400-plus air miles). / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Travel is one of the biggest factors impacting the Big Ten teams on the West Coast. It was widely discussed in advance, and now they're seeing it play out. UCLA (1-5) has already played one game in the Eastern Time Zone (at Penn State) and has another one coming up at Rutgers. USC has traveled to Michigan and to Minnesota - and this week they fly to Maryland. Washington (4-3) has arguably the toughest road slate. The Huskies have already played at Rutgers and at Iowa, and they still have to travel to Indiana and Penn State.

Their combined records in those road games? 0-5.

Then there's Cal (3-3) and Stanford (2-4), who are navigating through hellish travel schedules in the ACC. The two football programs will combine to log over 34,000 air miles this season as they crisscross the country from the Bay Area to upstate New York and multiple points in between.

The Sun Devils face their first Eastern Time Zone test this weekend at Cincinnati, and Dillingham knows all too well how difficult it will be.

"If you look at right now in college football, traveling three time zones and the win percentage, like I told our guys, is very, very, very low," said Dillingham in his Monday press conference. "If you just looked at that, and you didn't even look at the football teams, you just said 'who's traveling three time zones?' and you bet on the other team, you're gonna win the majority because it's such a challenge. Especially for college athletes who maybe don't go to bed when they should like a pro athlete does when he's preparing to do that."

Travel is one of many circumstances impacting former Pac-12 teams this season - but it is arguably the biggest one. It is not sustainable - especially the ACC schedule - and it begs the question on many people's minds: How long will it last?

Side note:

Some of those kids in those sports are actually there for the degree. They used their athletic ability to get admitted to schools like UW, Cal, Stanford, etc. which are actually hard to get into. I don’t see how missing class, which is actually required in most schools, and playing a soccer game in East Lansing on a weekday, are compatible.

FUSC now 3-4, 1-4 B1G. Watched them choke it against Maryland. Fun. FUCLA managed a win, vaulting them into a tie for 16th in the B1G with - yep - FUSC.

mutts have a bye week, damn it. But they improved into a 4-way tie for 8th in the B1G.

F-Oregon.

ASU lost, now 8th in the Big-12. Colorado (barf) won, now in a 3-way tie for 3rd as TT lost. At least it was against Arizona, now in a 3-way tie for 12th.

Stanford and Cal? Who cares.

Other games of note:

Alabama lost late. Now 2 losses. Hah! Now 9th in the SEC.
WTF with Oklahoma State? Now last in the Big-12?

Check this out. Pretty cool...

I must’ve missed this, which is not surprising since I don’t follow a lot of the proposals and support support chats

On the cougar pregame just now, they were discussing the upcoming change to roster size. While overall rosters are declining from 120 something to 105 all 105 players will now be under scholarship.

“Here we go?”

How much did we pay for that slogan?

And how the hell do we have a campaign that never says “Go Cougs?”