Week 10, which ESPN called “Separation Saturday,” is complete.  We looked at it as the last chance to withdraw from a course however.  Some did while others passed with flying colors.  Below is a complete report card of the tests administered to date.  We grade them one nugget at a time.

1.  Surely in Baton Rouge, under the lights, against a stingy Dave Aranda led LSU defense would provide Alabama their toughest test thus far this season.  Well, Alabama separated themselves from what some billed as their toughest competition to date with ease.  Tua Heisman passed and Bama ran with flying colors.  We think Alabama actually had the LSU run game playbook advanced to them for study.  The Tide gets an A+ by surgically removing LSU from the game possession by possession.  Bama is bigger, stronger, faster, and better coached than all.  Bama is a unanimous no. 1 in the AP Top 25 released yesterday.
2.  Clemson felt like it was getting ignored in this teacher’s pet conversation over these last few weeks.  No more.  They put a very salty 77 points on now lowly Louisville.  That’s 63,41,59, and now 77 against ACC foes in the last four weeks.  Trevor Lawrence makes one remember Deshaun Watson’s work in the orange uni’s. Give the Tigers an A and a clear no 2 ranking.
3. Notre Dame and Michigan are nos. 3 and 4 respectively.  Their week one encounter, won by ND, is all that separates these two.  ND beat Northwestern by 10 and gets an A for their 9-0 results thus far, but a B for style points.  Michigan meanwhile is charging ahead.  Their D (not grade) is the best in college football except for the one from Tuscaloosa.  Taking apart a talented Penn St. team 42-7 in the Big House earns the Wolverines an A in the class so far.  They have THE has a final regular season exam looming in Columbus on 11/24.
4. Georgia went to Kentucky and excelled for four quarters.  The 34-17 win in the Bluegrass State was impressive as the Kentucky defense was unyielding all season till Saturday.  The Bulldogs ran and ran and ran.  Georgia will win the East and earns a B to date and a no. 5 AP rank.
5. Joining Georgia in the top 10 with one loss is Oklahoma, West Virginia, THE, and Washington St. (LSU is no 9 with two losses).  Each of these students excel in one area but lack discipline in another.  Oklahoma gets an A for O and a D for D.  West Virginia wants to earn an invite to the honors section, but gets a C for D.  THE almost looks like they want to withdraw from school.  All isn’t right in Columbus.  We suspect Professor Urban Meyer is struggling getting through to his students.  The aforementioned Michigan final exam will be tough.  Washington St. wants a pat on the head for work well done to date, but we think their course load(schedule) has a few too many blow off classes(teams).  They haven’t played a ranked team.  And, their 19-13 win over the Nuts from Berkeley puts a few red correction marks on their term paper.
6. Syracuse rose nine places in the rankings to 13th.  The Orangemen slept in just a bit for their Wake Forest test.   But, once they settled into the exam they scored early, often, and well.  With two losses they have no path to any final four contests, but we wonder if this student is blossoming right before our eyes.  Next year perhaps?  Give them a B for now.
7.  The Texas Longhorns have three losses and are somehow ranked 15th.  Their head coach, one Tom Herman, is proving to be the clASS clown.  Tom should spend more time coaching a defense that doesn’t slow down good teams and less time whining about things he cannot control.  Several teams ranked below them would be and should be favored over them in Vegas.  Give the team a C+ so far and Tommy Boy a D- in conduct.
8.  Washington has three losses and a #20 rank.  They are disappointed in themselves.  Wisconsin is another national brand that has underachieved and is relegated to the “others receiving votes” section of the class.  Florida St., at 4-5, has no wins over anyone worth mentioning and is in year two of a cliff dive from prominence.
9. But the dunce’s cap goes to the man who needed a neck brace a few years ago.  The cap fits squarely on the head of the man in charge of the once high-flying Louisville.   We wonder if Bobby Petrino will get to answer the roll call next year?  Louisville is 2-7 overall, and 0-6 in the ACC.  If you are a Louisville fan the stench emanating from Pitino and Petrino over the last 12 months must make your nostrils burn.  Give Motorcycle Bob an F- if there is such a grade.
10. Some early lines are out.  Bama is minus a whopping 25.5 hosting Mississippi St.  Vegas cannot get the lines high enough on Bama.  Clemson travels to Boston College as a big 17 point favorite.  Tennessee is a live home dog +3.5 entertaining Kentucky.  Washington St travels to the four losses in a row Colorado Buffaloes as a 4.5 point fav.  And Wisconsin is an 8 point road dog in Happy Valley v Penn St.  One of those two teams will fall further in the loss column than expected before the year began.

Till Saturday.

In last week’s Ten Piece serving we almost labeled this past Saturday “Separation Saturday.”  We are glad we didn’t.  As it turns out we should have called it “Upset Saturday,” or “Set Up Saturday.”    Eleven of the ranked AP Top 25 teams lost which created no separation.  Eleven is the most since 2006.  Those outcomes set up this coming Saturday to be the most intriguing day this season.  Week ten is upon us and we offer Ten Nuggets to satisfy your CFB hunger below.

1.  The top five teams had a boring Saturday actually.  Number one Alabama, and nos. 4 and 5 LSU and Michigan had the weekend off.  No. 2 Clemson turned Florida St. inside out 49-10 while no. 3 ND paid only marginal respect to our beloved Navy.  Willie Taggart, HC of the Seminoles, called out his team post game feeling like some of them had quit.  We quibble, but we think that it was more than some.
2. Georgia pulled away in the second half of the (don’t call it) Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party soundly beating Florida 36-17.  The score almost matched the 36-16 beating LSU administered two weeks ago.  Georgia had a week off to stew.  They looked very determined to ensure they would still play meaningful games as the calendar flips to November.  And sure enough they will, in of all places, Kentucky.
3. The #11 Kentucky Wildcats made sure of that with an improbable last second comeback at Missouri.  The SEC East is up for grabs at 2:30 CST five days from now when Georgia rolls in.  One of the two one-loss teams will be in the captain’s seat in the SEC East by 6:00 pm.  Kentucky was 300-1 in Vegas in August to win the SEC.  It’s the first half of the CBS doubleheader.
4. The second half of the CBS “Separation” Saturday doubleheader is a small gathering of 100k fans in Death Valley, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The Crimson Tide rolls in with the SEC West hanging in the balance.  LSU is an early, big, 14 point home dog.  Bama has rag dolled everything in its wake by halftime of each (non)contest that they have been in thus far.  Speaking of halftime, future first round pick and LSU middle linebacker extraordinaire Devin White gets to watch the game until then.  LSU fans have expressed overt displeasure with the targeting call that reduced him to first half spectator status.  See their anger here.
5. Oklahoma dispatched of a different Wildcat to land at #7.  Kansas St. found out what the Sooners’ offense can do sooner than later.  A 34-7 halftime lead turned into a full on rout, 51-14.  One still has to wonder what D Oklahoma can muster as K St. isn’t having its best year under Bill Snyder, the oldest CFB coach at 78 years young.
6.  Idle on the week UCF is stuck in idle as #9.  The turnstile above and below them in the rankings continues to make us feel that if they want to participate in a parade again this year it will need to be thrown by them, for them, and watched only by them again as no one else seems to care too much.
7. A warm welcome to the Top 10 goes out to the Washington State Cougars who are #10.  They lead the PAC 10 North now after an impressive win at Stanford.  This comes after their impressive home win over Oregon a week ago.  Mike Leach does it his way and his way has reached the top 10.  Utah sits at #16 and a top the PAC 10 South.  Raise your hand if you predicted a possible Utes v Cougars PAC Championship game.
8. Michigan, THE, and Penn St. well represent the Big 10 East at nos. 5,8, and 14 respectively.  Iowa is the lone rep from the west side of the conference at 19.  However, Iowa is in a three-way tie for second in that division as Northwestern sits atop.  Northwestern is what we wrote.  It’s no typo.  They are 12-1 in their last 13 Big 10 matchups.   One of the teams tied for second in the west is three loss Wisconsin.  The odds on favorite Badgers came into the season with so much hope and will end it with so much disappointment.
9.  Nine of the 11 teams that were ranked 15-25 lost.  Seven ranked teams dropped out.  That is the most since 1989.  Jeez.  Notable among the new entries are the Syracuse Orangemen, ranked for the first time since 2001.  Also, Virginia returned after a seven-year hiatus.   Notable among the departures was first time ever, and ranked for one week only, Appalachian St.  The Mountaineers hosted a Thursday night game v. Georgia Southern.  The visitors trounced them 34-14, ending the one week run.
10.  While seven teams dropped out, the SEC now boasts seven teams in.  The conference places teams at 1,4,6,11,13,21, and 25.  Mississippi St at 21 and Texas A&M at 25 are the only three loss ranked teams for now.
11.  (or, Plus One) Some early lines are out.  As mentioned above Bama is a 14 point road favorite at LSU.  Can LSU’s D slow down the Tua train to The Downtown Athletic Club?  Can LSU’s O muster enough to stay close?  ND is another road favorite by 7.5 at the aforementioned Northwestern.  West Virginia is a 1.5 point road dog in Austin, TX.  Texas might still be seething from their road loss to Okie St., while West Va. is not the same team on the road.

Till Saturday.

If college football was a horse race the announcer would exclaim, “they’ve hit the far turn.”  Eight games, or two-thirds in of twelve, the games never fail to intrigue.  As they make the turn, we head to the nuggets.

1.  A speed horse is one that jumps way out front and burns out, eventually giving way to the field.  But, Alabama is no speed horse.  It’s the class of the race.  Sitting unanimously at no. 1 in the new AP Top 25, it’s looking back at the field wondering if there is a worthy challenger.  They stay in the barn this coming week prepping for a Baton Rouge run v. the now # 4 LSU Tigers.
2.  THE Ohio St. wasn’t running a clean race for weeks, but was still rambling down the backstretch in second.  They were. Purdue handed them their third loss in three years to an inferior Big 10 opponent.   The Boilermakers of Purdue kicked mud in THE’s eye.  THE fell back hard to 11th.  If they win out and beat Michigan in the season finale, who knows?
3. Clemson jockeyed to second with a convincing romp of undefeated pretender North Carolina St.  Clemson wants everyone to know that they still own the ACC.  In a distant second in the ACC is, well, North Carolina St. The Wolfpack dropped back to 23.
4.  Notre Dame is 3 and LSU, off of an uneven but defensively dominating 19-3 win over Mississippi St., now holds the coveted 4th spot.  They’ll likely hold it next week too as they lick their wounds from a tough early track with an off week as well.  Alabama visits on 11/3.  One would wager that College Gameday will visit on 11/3 as well.
5. Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Florida make up the next five through nine.  They are all tightly bunched and one or two could break free as we soon turn for home.  They all have one loss.  Michigan stands out though.  They are lurking at 5.  The Wolverines allowed a meager, paltry, miserly 94 total yards to decent in state rival Michigan St. Their only loss was in week one to the Fighting Irish, and is a minor blemish now.
6. One of Georgia and Florida will be put out to pasture as far as title aspirations go this weekend.  The “Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” that you cannot call “The Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” anymore gets served straight with ice on Saturday.  The #9 Gators opened yesterday as a nine-point dog to the Bulldogs.
7.  UCF wants to know if anyone cares to notice that they are #10.  It seems not.  They seem to only run in claiming races.  And, no one claims them.   They really need to schedule stronger out of conference foes.
8.  For 13 years no one noticed Washington St. either.  For 216 straight weeks of GameDay shows, someone’s shown up to wave a giant Washington State flag, no matter how far away from Pullman, WA.  On this past Saturday, college football took notice and Oregon paid for it as 20k plus Washington St. faithful watched the ESPN show on campus.  Then, even more watched the show that Mike Leach’s team put on .  The final was 34-27 Cougars over the Ducks of Oregon, but the first half Cougar domination was impressive.  They bolted all the way up to 13th.  It’s the highest ranked PAC 10 team.  That’s good for them and not so good for the left coast.
9. Hello Appalachian St.  Is there a more appropriate nickname than the Mountaineers?

   

   They are ranked for the first time ever at 25.  After being a major thorn in then called D-1 schools for a long while, the Mountaineers joined the FBS in 2014.   They play in the Sun Belt Conference if you don’t know, and sport a 3-0 record in bowl games thus far.  ‘Where are they from,’ you ask?  Well, they hail from proud Boone, NC. of course.

10. The SEC has spots 1,4,7,9,12, and 16 this week.  Wow!  Over the final month they’ll beat each other up as almost all games left are in the divisions inside of the conference.  One stands way out, while some of the others hope to ascend to greater notoriety.
11. (or plus one)  Some early lines are out.  Missouri -6 hosts Kentucky.  It almost seems like the wrong team is favored.  Almost.  Washington St. is a 3 point road dog to Stanford.   The happy Cougars need to avoid a low after the Pullman high.  NC St is a one point dog at Syracuse.  The one loss Wolfpack get little respect.  Maybe they haven’t earned much?  Clemson is a 17 point road favorite over Florida St.  WWBBS?  What Would Bobby Bowden Say?

Till five days from now.

And, quickly, five weeks are in the textbooks in college football.  There is a lot to chew on.  Let’s go straight to the nuggets.

1.  Bama rolled.  Georgia keeps chugging right along.  THE Ohio St. came back with a vengeance to make Happy Valley (The “Happy Valley” is a nickname for the State College area. Apparently, the term was coined during the Great Depression when the town was not hit as hard by the economic situation due to Penn State University’s influence.) not so happy.  And Clemson struggled but survived at home.  Despite that struggle these are the four highest rated teams in the new AP Poll and rightfully so.  At the moment they seem a bit separated from the others.
2.  Clemson wears orange, but the Orangemen from Syracuse nearly peeled Clemson from any title aspirations as unwelcome visitors.  Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence should be ready to go this week after a brutal hit Saturday.  Syracuse has become the Power 5 team that no one wants to play anymore.  They will “scrap you for a ball” as Les Miles once said.
3. There are about 4 or so “want to be’s” below these four teams.  One of them is Notre Dame.  They sent Stanford, the Cardinal, and it’s Tree back to Cali rather rudely.   How good is ND?  Good enough to beat now #14 Stanford and now #15 Michigan.   They head to Va Tech Saturday.   They have an opportunity to climb as those above have a tougher stretch run.
4.  Another one is Oklahoma.  They scored 1.1 points per minute, 66 in all, in demolishing Baylor.  This week they get resurgent Texas in the Red River Shootout, er Showdown, er Rivalry.  Depending on how politically correct you are, you can call it what you want.   ESPN College Gameday will be there.  If Coach Lee Corso picks Oklahoma as the winner, DUCK.
5. West Virginia is yet another.  They went into Lubbock and took care of a team that contenders must take care of in Texas Tech.  They held on at 42-34 after owning a 35-10 halftime lead.  They are undefeated, ranked 9th, and have both Red River Rivalry teams still ahead.  The opportunity is there and the strength of schedule would make for a good case if they ran through it.  Do they have enough D? We will see.
6.  Perhaps LSU is the fourth other.  The boomboomsroom.com staff sat through a constant light rain to see them throttle Ole Miss 45-16 to up their season mark to 5-0.  They say it never rains in Tiger Stadium.  They fibbed.  Ole Miss isn’t good.  Their defense is offensive.  Vegas isn’t sure that LSU is that good either.  As we write Vegas has LSU with a less than 50% chance in each of the following upcoming games- Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and A&M.
7.  Here is a quick quiz.  Who is undefeated since the end of the 2016 season, has had a game cancelled in 2017 and 2018, and has scored 56,38,56, and 45 points in a 4-0 start in 2018?  If you said the University of Central Florida, or UCF, you know yourself some college football.  Unfortunately, for them, they probably aren’t one of the “others.”   Their strength of schedule isn’t a strength on their yearly resume’.  Bonus question.  What’s their nickname?  The Knights.  Who knew?  No wonder they held a “championship” parade for themselves last year.

   

   As Rodney used to say, “NO RESPECT.”

8. Someone who is starting to get some respect and quickly is Kentucky.  The Wildcats followed up their 28-7 Miss St. beat down with a solid take down of South Carolina, 24-10.  The Bulldogs and Gamecocks might not have great O’s, but 17 total points allowed to two SEC schools is what it is.  Kentucky has but one important thing to do to climb from AP #13.  They need to keep winning.
9. Spots 21-25 in the poll are much like a revolving door.  Welcome in this week Colorado (the lone undefeated PAC 10 school), Florida, NC State and Oklahoma St.  Welcome back Virginia Tech who had a very nice road, bounce back win over Duke.  A week earlier Va Tech lost at home by 14 to…..remember………Old Dominion!
10.  Some early lines are out.  LSU is -2 at Florida.  Notre Dame is -4.5 at VaTech.  Texas A&M is -6.5 at Kentucky. and OU is -8 vs Texas.   Our first glance favors the home dogs and Texas in Dallas.

Until week six.

PS.  Two great tiebreaker MLB games play off today.   Enjoy.

Four weeks into the 2018 CFB season some interesting trends have begun to emerge.   There are also some conference nuggets to digest.  Let’s kickoff.

1.  In the previous three weeks we have asked if everyone is playing for second.  Bama is playing like no one else when you consider 16 quarters of football in their portfolio.  Well, Vegas certainly agrees.  The Golden Nugget out there has the following odds on Bama v. the top four opponents should they meet in the playoffs.  THE Ohio St is +10, Georgia is +11, Clemson +12, and Oklahoma +17.  Jeez.
2. Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech after Va Tech looked pretty darn good beating Florida St.  24-3 and dismantling William and Mary 62-17.   Wow is the word.  The week off due to the East Carolina postponement as Florence wobbled did Va Tech no good.
3. Boston College, after a solid-looking start to their season,  got pushed around by then 0-3, now 1-3 Purdue.  Meanwhile Duke came in at #22 in the just released AP poll after it took care of business to move to 4-0 with a 55-13 shellacking of NC Central.
4. So, where does this leave the ACC?  It leaves them with Clemson at # 3 and Duke in the top 25.   Clemson aside, the ACC looks like a cross between a train wreck and a dumpster fire.  It also leaves Clemson in a must win situation it seems.   Duke is the only ranked opponent for them from now until any possible ACC championship opponent.  A loss against a non-ranked opponent would open the door  for other conferences to get into the playoffs and leave the ACC at home.
5.  Kentucky entered the top 25 all the way up at #16 after a surprising and thorough working of the Bulldogs of Mississippi St.   The last time Kentucky was in the top 25 was 2007.  The Dow was 13,700 then.  It went on a rollercoaster down to just under 7000 by March of 2009.  Today it stands well over 26,000.  It’s been a long, bumpy road back for the index and the Wildcats.  Are you buying or selling the Wildcats now?
6.  We’re buying Benny Snell, the Kentucky running back extraordinaire.  He might need to stop by New York in December to pick up some Heisman hardware before he’s drafted early next April.   He’s only a dark horse right now, but winning in the SEC changes that status by the week.  Saturday he produced 165 yards running on 25 carries against a front seven that is very good.  He crossed the goal line four times too.
7.  Oklahoma almost pulled off their annual Oklahoma melt moment Saturday.  Army, yes Army, extended them to overtime before the Sooners prevailed 28-21.  The phrase “stats are for losers” comes to mind when you realize that  Army ran 81 plays to Oklahoma’s paltry 26.   The time of possession favored Army by nearly 45 minutes to a very frugal 15.  The Sooners have to be better on defense to be considered an elite team.  And, the sooner the better is recommended with Big 12 foes and wide open offenses headed their way in the next two months.
8. Tom Herman told us that his team was way better in 2018 than 2017.  He said this in the post game press conference after losing to Maryland in the season opener.  We chuckled.  Maybe Tom is about to get the last laugh.   The Longhorns sent TCU back to Fort Worth after their rather convincing win. He has the attention of the fickle Texas faithful. Football is fun again in the Lone Star capital.
9.  Two big games with significant national implications will get our attention this Saturday.    It’s Penn St. hosting THE Ohio St., while Notre Dame hosts Stanford.  That’s four top 10 unbeatens that will be cut down to two by nightfall.
10. Some early lines are out.  Syracuse (4-0) travels to Clemson and gets no Vegas respect at +22.  Florida and Dan Mullen travel to Mississippi St. and get no Vegas respect at +7.5.  THE is -4 at Penn St.  And, ND is favored by 5 in South Bend over Stanford.  LSU is -13.5 over Mississippi in BR town.  Mississippi can score some points.  We like Florida and Mississippi.
11. One leftover nugget.   Scott Frost your team didn’t show up Saturday to play in Ann Arbor.   It was 39-0 before the half and 56-10 at the final gun.  At least the leaves are changing in Lincoln this fall.   The Cornhuskers are 0-3.