thependulumswings

Go ahead.  Throw away the last of the pecan pie.  It’s getting close to two weeks old!  If you are brave enough it’s likely bittersweet by now anyway.  Likewise, it’s bittersweet that Rivalry Week in CFB has come and gone.   And, Army v. Navy aside, we now must wait a few weeks for more college football.  That’s when way too many bowl games between way too many mediocre teams start.

The latest AP Top 25 is out.  The playoff committee has spoken (Alabama v. Oklahoma, and Clemson v. Notre Dame).  The bowl matchups are set.  We serve up ten not bittersweet nuggets below.  With so little movement in the Top 25 we changed the menu slightly.  These nuggets are more random thoughts about the season than they are about the order of the teams.  Digest them as you please.

1.  Kirby Smart was not so smart in the final two minutes attempting the fake punt as Georgia succumbed to the second half crimson tidal wave, 35-28.  Alabama sewed up the no. 1 seed in the playoffs and Georgia fell out.  That the Red Elephants won isn’t a big surprise.  The problem with Smart’s dumb fake was that Bama was playing their defenders, not the punt return team.  Hence, it wasn’t a surprise to Bama.
2. Increasingly over the last five or so years more coaches are going for it on fourth down.  They are willing to risk forty yards of field position to keep the ball.  It’s a complex equation of when, where and why to go for it on fourth down.   Whether he should have is quite debatable.  But, if Kirby felt like he couldn’t afford to give Alabama the ball back, he should have used his best offensive play in going for the first down.  With the clock stopping briefly on first downs in college ball a little bit of time remaining is a lot.  Clearly the fake was no surprise.
3. With that. out of the playoffs bounces Georgia. and in strides Oklahoma.  Their prize is a first round game v. Alabama.  Oklahoma played just enough defense against Texas to join the party.   They even ran the ball and ran the clock some when it counted.  How their D stops Alabama is TBD.  Lincoln Riley has nearly month to figure it out and he will everyone of those days and nights.  One note to keep in mind.  Bama has started slowly in the first half of the last three contests.   They rallied to crush The Citadel, soundly beat Auburn, and squeaked by Georgia.  Another disinterested start by them against the machine that the “O”klahoma offense is might be interesting.  The early line is Alabama minus 14.
4.  Isn’t the Clemson run rather quiet relatively speaking on the national level?  Syracuse gave them a full 60 minutes nine long weeks ago.  Since then they have plowed through the last eight weeks and three ranked teams winning by 60,34,49,61,20,29,21, and 32 points.  The ACC Championship Game v. Pittsburgh was but an ACC coronation ball for King Dabo and his Tigers.  The early line v. ND is Clemson minus 11.5.  Would it surprise you if Clemson won it all?
5.   THE Ohio St., Georgia, Michigan, and Central Florida are outside of the top four looking in.  The first three had their chances while UCF did not due to schedule strength.  Now that the yearly hype of “what if this” and “what if that” has died down, the playoff committee got it right.  The best four teams are in.  The next four are headed to nice bowls and nice paydays.
6.  UCF rallied from a 38-21 halftime deficit to outgun Memphis 56-41.  The Golden Knights will carry the nations longest winning streak into the New Year’s Day Fiesta Bowl.  They stand at 25 wins in a row and counting.  Standing in their way from back to back undefeated seasons is another SEC bowl opponent.  Last year they beat Auburn.  This year they will face LSU.  Maybe UCF will hold yet another national championship parade for themselves.
7.  The Oregonian’s John Canzano reported the Pac-12 spends $6.9 million per year to rent a lavish downtown San Francisco space.  By comparison, the SEC pays $318,000 in rent for its Birmingham, Alabama, offices.  Canzano described how the Pac-12 high command spent $3.1 million in expenses last year. The Big Ten spent $542,000.  How is the return on that investment going?  Well, the conference was not in the discussion for the playoffs.  The conference championship Friday night game was very poorly attended and the few that did show booed Larry Scott, PAC-12 commish, lustily.  Two loss Washington State got dispatched to the Alamo Bowl as three loss Florida was awarded the much higher payout Peach Bowl.
8.  The annual post season coaching carousel has begun.  It doesn’t stop until the last musical chair is removed.  The annual coach speak is in full swing.  ” I have the only job I want.”  “I currently have no interest in…” “This is about this team and these kids- I love every one of them.”  ” I have not been contacted by anyone about that job.”  Then, poof!   As an aside, does Urban Meyer call it quits?  Colin Cowherd says that two sources have told him that it’s a definite “yes.”
9.  How about Mack Brown and Les Miles?  Mack packed for North Carolina.  He last coached there in 1997.  He looked lost on the Texas sidelines in his last few years there.  He sounded lost on ESPN as a game analyst.  He found his way to his old home though.  The Les Miles experience landed in Kansas last week.   He looked lost on the LSU sidelines in his last few years there.  He sounded lost in his Kansas intro presser as well.  Brown and Miles join Herm Edwards and Bill Snyder as oldies but goodies on the sidelines next fall.  First one still coaching at 80 years of age wins.
10.  Army v. Navy is this Saturday.  Army is favored by seven.  If they win it will be their 10th on the year.   They won 10 last year.  This would be the first time ever that they accomplished such a feat.  The Black Knights started playing football in 1891.
11. (Plus One) The nation’s 41st Commander in Chief passed away last Friday.  George H.W. Bush will enjoy the great view from high above as his Army Cadets and Naval Midshipmen meet for the 119th time.