I don't usually pay attention it just does not interest me. I was lead to believe that Michigan was a good football team with a great coach, they suck, they got done, they played like gutless cowards, the team was out coached and over matched. The Minnesota Gophers the joke of the Big 10 beat the Badgers for the first time in 15 tries, and now Gopher fans think the TV preacher/used car salesman that is the current coach is great. Got my fill yesterday probably will not watch again for several more years.
I prefer college football, but my team got drilled by Clemson last evening. Not impressed with Clemson's secondary but their d-line and offense is legit. Their talent level is second only to Bama. Both Bama and Clemson get awesome recruits and coach them good. I'm an SC fan but I respect how Swinney turned Clemson around after WVU beat them 70-33 about five years ago. What I like about midwest college football is they still run out of the I-formation or other old school pro style offenses. I'm kind of sick of shotgun spread formations, etc. I watch the NFL but it's not the game I grew up loving as a fan. All of these new offensive records are a byproduct of officiating/rulebook that favors offense to an unnatural degree. QB's are brave now and so are receivers because they can't get drilled like they used to. Chris Collinsworth said one night that if you went over the middle, you wound up eventually on the sideline getting stitches in your chin before you could go back in the game. And QB's who ran downfield? SEE: Jack Lambert and Brian Sipe in the early 80's and late 70's. Everybody freaks out about thugs like Burfict of the Bengals, but from what I've heard in interviews and read about guys like Lambert and Butkus did awful stuff nearly every tackle. Some of Bill Curry's interviews are LOL funny about how hard it was to block Butkus and what he'd do to Jim Taylor, etc, during and after a tackle. I read a book that said Lambert spit on MANY Dallas players in the super bowls they faced off in. Plus, he forearmed Cliff Harris well after the play was over when Harris taunted the Steelers place kicker after a missed FG. LOL. I don't approve of extracurriculars per se but I do think there were Burficts on every team back in the day. Bill Bergey of the Eagles tackled Pete Gent of Dallas once and then drove both of us knees in Pete's back while he was on the ground. LOL. And every practice, Pete and Lee Roy Jordan would fight and have serious issues. And that's practice. They would block and tackle each other in practice in ways that aren't even allowed in GAMES in today's NFL. I do think old vets deserve more benefits for how they sacrificed each other's bodies for a mere pittance compared to today's players. The ones who still have their minds don't have much body supporting them anymore. Good thread, Sota.
I've actually started watching more college football in the last 5 years. Although I do prefer to watch "good" games. I'm don't care for the games when it's a 75-0 blow out but you do eventually get some good ones. For instance last night the LSU @ Texas A&M game was amazing! If you like football at all, you'd have liked that game. Coach getting a Gatorade bath after and interception, only to have it overturned. Touchdown in literally the last second of regulation and then 7 overtimes later, the underdog wins 74-72. One of the best football games I've watched in a very long time. What I don't really care for in college is the rankings. The "voting" for the top 25 is basically a popularity contest. They have at least gotten something right with the playoff and it's not just the top 4 teams from the AP poll that get in. Mostly because it's a different panel that decides the top 4 for the CFP. Playoffs should be good. Alabama and Clemson are in. Notre Dame should be in. The 4th spot will be tough to decide between Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. but we still have the division championships to play next weekend. Things could still get shook up a bit.
