ACC Thoughts (via ESPN)

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Interesting thoughts about the ACC...

1)  Will Florida State, with an untested offensive line, make it to the CFB playoff?

2)  Can Miami put it all together under Mark Richt and win the ACC

3)  How will Louisville come out of their bad tailspin at the end of last year?

4)  Justin Fuente will have a challenging second year after some key players left early

5)  Can QB Max Browne come to Pitt via USC and help the Panthers win?

Bonus: Unproven QBs will be the key to success or disappointment for many teams this year:  Miami, Clemson, VT, UNC, Pitt, Duke

Under the Radar

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Looking at the FBS Schedules website, I see that Arkansas and Tulsa agreed to meet next year in Fayetteville.  This will be the the 73rd game (the Razorbacks lead the series 53-16-3) in the series that began back in 1899.  From 1925 to 1947, a period of 18 games, all the meetings took place in Tulsa, but since then (46 games), all but two of the games have been played in the state of Arkansas.  The Golden Hurricanes haven't won a game over the Razorbacks since 1976 (18 straight games).

SEC Thoughts (via ESPN)

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Interesting bits from ESPN regarding the upcoming season in the SEC:

1)  Will Lou Saban get bored at Alabama and return to the NFL?

2)  Has Florida finally found their next great QB among its freshmen recruits?

3)  Will transfer QB Jarrett Stidham be enough for Auburn?

4)  Can Dan Mullen lead Mississippi State to the "spoiler" role in the SEC West?

Bonus thought (mine):  Can Jacob Eason mature enough as the Bulldog QB to lead Georgia on a charge up the rankings?

 

Justin Jackson

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I have to think that Justin Jackson is a player that many people haven't heard of - including myself until recently.  Justin is a running back at Northwestern who will be a senior in the upcoming 2017 season who very easily could have turned pro this year.  The reason for his return? He wants to "fine tune" his skills.  Since he will be returning, here are some significant milestones he can achieve:

1)  He needs just 357 yards to become the all-time leading rusher for the Wildcats

2)  If he gains 1,000 yards this season, Jackson will become only the 9th player in FBS history to have four 1,000 yard seasons

3)  Another milestone if he reaches 1,000 yards in 2017 - he will be only the 6th running back in Big Ten history to gain over 5,000 yards in his career

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly - at some point next year, Justin will earn his degree from Northwestern!

Notre Dame

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The Fighting Irish just announced not only their 2018 schedule, but their 2019 schedule as well.  I smiled a few times as I looked at their upcoming opponents.  Quite a few old rivals return in 2018 (Michigan, Northwestern, and Pitt), as well as other quality teams over the two years (Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia) - not to mention the teams they play every year.

Might have to watch some of these games!

Complete

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With the Mountain West Conference releasing their schedule today, the 2017 FBS schedule is now complete as the weekly games are set.  Of course, games might still shift around (as an example, the Baylor/TCU and Texas/Texas Tech games were just moved to Black Friday), but we now know each conference's schedule.  It is time to get serious and put a watchlist together of this division.

The only question that remains - how much time will my new baby give me to work on this project each night?  lol

MAC

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The 4th oldest conference (established in 1947 - with Ohio the only remaining charter member), doesn't exactly get a lot of respect, primarily from its fan bases.  Evidence of this is the low attendance that these schools get on a yearly basis.  It's too bad because I enjoy watching their games in November - when they play on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  The schools also have some good rivalries and traditions that have been gradually built up in the last 70 years.

College Football TV Link

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http://www.lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm

I really like this college football tv link because it already gives me insight into what games will be televised this fall - especially the weekday matchups.  This site also gives me a nice cumulative look at the weekly schedules of all the FBS teams, and soon it will include the FCS teams as well.  We are now just waiting for the Mountain West Conference to release its' schedule after the Sun Belt and MAC revealed their earlier today.

The season is getting closer!

 

Safeway Bowl

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North Texas and SMU have confirmed that they have extended their series through 2021, though unofficially they have dates set aside through 2025.  The two Dallas/Fort Worth schools have met 36 times (Mustangs lead 30-5-1) dating back to the 1920s.  The name of the series originated in 1994, when then North Texas coach, Matt Simon, said that he would play SMU in a Safeway parking lot just to get them on the schedule.

Austin Peay

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Despite losing 27 straight games, and 44 of their last 45, Austin Peay had one of this year's top recruiting classes in the FCS according to 247 Sports.  It might not be for the best talent though, but more likely for the sheer number of recruits, of which they had twenty.  

I don't think that they can bring in better talent than Noth Dakota State, or James Madison, or even Harvard...

FBS: Worst Attendance in 2016

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Here are the average attendance figures of FBS schools that struggled to draw people to their games:

Ball State:  7,789

New Mexico State:  9,545

Florida Atlantic:  10,073

Akron:  10,337

Kent State:  10,898

Northern Illinois:  11,019

Idaho:  11,190

Louisiana - Monroe:  12,610

Charlotte:  14,192

Massachusetts:  14,510

Unfortunately for the MAC - they are well-represented in this short list.

 

Challenge

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I have figured out in just the last two days - it is going to be a HUGE challenge to keep with my pledge of at least one entry a day for all of 2017.  Maybe I can count a one word article as an entry...

Anyway, I have updated my capsules of the Mid-America and Empire 8 conferences.  I am so impressed with the quality, longevity, and winning traditions, (especially NW Missouri State and Pittsburg State) of the teams in Mid-America.  It is well worth someone's time to learn about and follow this outstanding conference.