I promised myself I would not dive too deep into Taylor’s ‘tis the damn season. I got some College Football Conference Championships to write about. So this is Tom’s Version of ‘tis the damn season. I’m advertising this in the ATL because it’s where College Gameday is set up this weekend, so if you’re a Swiftie in school down south, believe me, I am Swiftie Certified…
Just again want to point out that Taylor sent me a nice pre-recorded Spotify message thanking me for listening. It was v nice of her. Also, I just want to point out that none of the men sent anything, typical.
Week to Week Notes Christmas Tree ‘23
I know what you’re thinking “How many pints did he have before decorating the tree?”Wow, that looks SOOO good, nice job, Tom. Thank you, thank you, yesterday when I went Christmas Tree shopping I specifically asked for “A Charlie Brown tree” and picked the one with the most flaws. If you need my help with pointers in setting up your Christmas tree, send me a pic, and we can compare.
‘tis the damn season…
I know some of you get a kick out of my calendar and I forgot to show you my November so here is a look-sey…
Let’s see what the all-encompassing Peaky Blinder calendar that my mother bought me for Christmas last year has to say…
I still have the month of December ‘23, but yes, as Tommy Shelby says, once I do so “I have no limitations.”
It’ll be a full calendar year of doing this writing bit, shit, I may be able to take myself seriously as a writer Notetaker. Nah, probably not.
Okay, that was one helluva opener, ‘tis the damn season (Tom’s Verison) let’s talk ball…
The Big 12 Championship will feature the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Texas Longhorns. These two schools first met on a football field in San Antonio, Texas, back in 1916. The two have played each other 37 times with Texas winning 26 games. The Longhorns have won the last two times they played. Oklahoma State is 9-3 and ranked #18, while Texas is 11-1 and #7.
The Cowboys’ RB Ollie Gordon leads all of the land in rushing yards with 1,580 and is 2nd in rushing TDs with 20. Gordon has accounted for a whopping 53% of Oklahoma State’s TDs this season. The man has rushed for 121+ yards in 8 of their last 9 games. He is their offense. LBer Collin Oliver is the Cowboys’ best defender. He has had 6 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. This week an Oklahoma State Frat house killed a longhorn as a prank. I hope all those involved burn in hell while rotting the rest of their youth in jail. Fuckin’ losers.
Texas’ only loss this year came against the Oklahoma Sooners in Week 6. The Longhorns’ top RB this season was Jonathan Brooks, who unfortunately tore his ACL. Freshman RB CJ Baxter will need to continue to step up in his absence. In Baxter’s first career start, he had 20 carries for 117 rushing yards. The Texas offense will also lean heavily on their veteran QB Quinn Ewers and his top target Xavier Worthy. Ewers was good enough this season to keep Arch Manning out of the spotlight and on the bench. After another exceptional regular season, Worthy has now had 3 seasons of 60+ catches and 760+ receiving yards under his belt. I was taking the Cowboys at +14.5 until I saw what the frat did, Hook ‘Em.
Prediction: 28-12 Texas (-14.5 Oklahoma State & Under 55.5)
This SEC Championship Game features the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs. These two Southern storied programs first met in 1895 when Georgia’s coach, Glenn Scobey “Pop” Warner, defeated ‘Bama 30-6. Alabama and Georgia have faced each other 72 times with ‘Bama winning 42 of the meetings. The last time these two teams were on the same field was the National Championship of the ‘21-’22 season when the Bulldogs won 33-18. This game will have a massive impact on the state of the College Football Playoff because Alabama is ranked #8 and Georgia is undefeated at #1. If ‘Bama wins this game, they will almost need to be put in the CFB Playoffs and if Georgia loses, how do you keep them out of the top 4?
Alabama’s season turned after Jalen Milroe returned to his QB1 duties in Week 4. Milroe was benched after a poor performance against Texas in Week 2. In the last 4 games, the dual-threat QB has played great completing passes at a 69% clip, throwing for 8 TDs to just 1 INT, and rushing for 297 yards & 7 scores. Last weekend to keep ‘Bama’s SEC title hopes alive, Milore stood in the pocket on 4th Down for eternity before lofting up a beauty to Isaiah Bond in the corner of the end zone. Defensively, the Tide’s pass rushers Dallas Turner (8 sacks), Chris Braswell (8 sacks), and Justin Eboigbe (6 sacks) each had a sack last week. ‘Bama also has elite playmakers in their secondary with Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold at cornerback, while Caleb Downs patrols centerfield.
The Georgia Bulldogs are trying to become the 9th team in College Football history to win 30 consecutive games. Georgia’s RB Kendall Mitchell has his own streak going, 7 straight games with at least 1 TD. Mitchell and Daijuan Edwards have combined to rush for 1,425 yards and 21 TDs. Georgia’s top 2 pass catchers, TE Brock Bowers and WR Ladd McConkey, have been limited in practice this week. Both players have been dealing with nagging ankle injuries but have a good chance at playing. Georgia’s defense only gives up 15.8 points per game. 2 of their biggest playmakers are in their secondary with CB Tykee Smith (7.5 tackles for loss) and S Javon Bullard (7 tackles for loss), both DBs can lay the hammer.
Prediction: 24-17 Georgia (-5.5 Georgia & Under 54.5)
SMU and Tulane will battle it out in the American Athletic Conference Championship. Tulane won the AAC title last year and is trying to go back-to-back for the first time since their 1930 & 1931 when they were the Southern Conference champs. These two football programs first met in 1943 when Tulane’s head coach Jimmy Stewart (not the legend from It’s A Wonderful Life) beat the Mustangs 12-6. From ‘15 to ‘21, SMU dominated against Tulane winning 7 matchups in a row, but last year Tulane blew SMU out 59-24. The SMU Mustangs are 10-2 while Tulane is 11-1 and ranked #22 in the country.
Last weekend, SMU lost their starting QB Preston Stone to a broken leg. Stone had a great sophomore season for the Mustangs, throwing for 3,197 yards with 28 TDs. Redshirt freshman QB Kevin Jennings is expected to take Stone’s spot. This will be Jennings’ first career start. An inexperienced QB’s best friend is a reliable TE and Jennings will have that in RJ Maryland who leads the Mustang in receiving yards this season. Maryland has 7 TD catches and averages 15.9 yards per catch this season. SMU’s top defender is Elijah Roberts. The senior defensive end leads the team in sacks with 8.5 on the season.
Tulane’s QB Michael Pratt was named the Offensive Player of the Year. Pratt threw for 2,168 yards and 21 TDs while rushing for another 321 yards with 4 TDs. This season he became Tulane’s all-time leading passer. Tulane has now taken home the last 2 OPY awards, as their former RB Tyjae Spears won the award in ‘22. This season the Green Wave replaced Spears with good company in Makhi Hughes. The freshman RB ran for 1,246 yards with 7 TDs and is coming off a career-high 166-yard game last weekend. A veteran QB like Pratt versus an inexperienced freshman is why I’m riding the Green Wave.
Prediction: 31-23 Tulane (-4 Tulane & Over 47)
The ACC Championship game will be played between the Louisville Cardinals and the Florida State Seminoles. Their first meeting was in 1952, but these two schools have only played 23 times in their history with FSU winning 17 matchups. Louisville is 10-2 and ranked #15, while the Seminoles are an undefeated 12-0 which ranks them #4.
The Louisville Cardinals RB Jawhar Jordan leads their rushing attack with 1,076 yards on the season. Jordan, along with Issach Guerendo make up for the vast majority of the 183.5 rushing yards per game the Cardinals average. The Cardinals’ best overall player is their defensive lineman, Ashton Gillotte. The Boca Raton native with a crazy beard and long hair has had 11 sacks this season, tops in the ACC. Louisville’s defense has only allowed 20 points per game this season but is coming off a loss to Kentucky where they gave up 38 points.
The Florida State Seminoles have a QB problem on their hands. The Seminoles may need to play their 3rd stringer, Brock Glenn, after their QB2 Tate Rodemaker suffered a blow to the head last weekend. Rodemaker is in concussion protocol after suffering symptoms this past week. The ‘Noles have a great support system around whoever is behind center and RB Trey Benson will be leaned on heavily. Benson against Florida rushed for 95 yards and 3 TDs. Florida State’s defense will also be asked to do more and they just might have the ability to, allowing only 16.8 points per game. Their top pass rusher, Jared Verse, had a career-high 2.5 sacks against the Gators. I think the talented weapons FSU has on offense can make up for their inexperienced QB play, at least in this matchup.
Prediction: 27-20 FSU (-2.5 FSU & Under 48.5)
The Big Ten Championship features the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Michigan Wolverines. The 1st time they ever played was in 1900. In 63 matchups, Michigan has won 44 of them. Iowa is the #16 ranked team in the country, while Michigan is #2 and playing to lock up their spot in the CFB Final Four.
Iowa’s offense is absurd. They have rushed for 1,487 yards this year while throwing for 1,481. Their top receiver this year is TE Erick All and he hasn’t even passed the 300 receiving yards mark. Defensively, Iowa may lost their star DB Cooper DeJean to injury, but have found another stud in Sebastian Castro. The senior CB has a 90.6 PFF Grade, has allowed 0 TDs, and has 3 INTs with 6 pass breakups. Iowa punts the ball a lot.
Michigan will finally have their head coach, Jim Harbaugh, back patrolling the sidelines after his Big Ten suspension. The Wolverine’s RB Blake Corum set a school record last weekend when he scored his 22nd TD of the year. Corum is the only player in CFB to score in every game this season. Michigan statistically has the best defense in the country, only allowing 10.3 points per game. Iowa already leads the nation in 3-N-Outs so this has the makings of another Wolverine win.
Prediction: 35-0 Michigan (-23.5 Michigan & Under 35.5)