Off-Topic Forum

Yes, I know, it started last week and there have been games Thursday and Friday night this week, but it's the first full college football Saturday of 2021! I love baseball but this is my favorite time of the year!

Who are you watching and rooting for today? Any upset picks? Here in Michigan, the pregame beverages are flowing and the tunes are thumping in the speakers. Kickoff at noon for my boys - 

Go Army, Beat Georgia State!

GO BLUE AND GO CANES!!

I'll be watching North Dakota vs. Idaho State at 2:00 PM Central time. Go UND!

Clemson vs. Georgia @7:30 (or 8 once they finish all the pregame). Go Tigers! Excited to see DJU in a starting role!

I've always been partial to UCLA. (Just got home from working the UCLA vs. LSU game a couple hours ago--UCLA won 38-27.)

*SIGHHHHH* Oh Well...One bad thing about the playoff format is that if a team loses a game to start a season, even if they're ranked really high, they have to run the table. I am, of course, talking about my team, Clemson. But seriously, Tigers, GET AN O-LINE!

For my job, I occasionally get opportunities to work some "special events."  Most of the time it's summer fairs and festivals, occasionally it's a concert.  This year I'm the Draft Technician making sure the beer keeps flowing Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City Iowa.    Go Hawkeyes!

Great first WIN over the Hoosiers.

Oh yeah, changing kegs...I've had more than my share of "beer baths", lol.

Little late to the post since I dont get on during the weekends. But I love watching both Oregon and Oregon State play. Would be nice if they win but more of a NFL guy.

Not a good weekend for the NC teams. Duke lost to UNC-Charlotte by 3 after spanking them last year by about 50 points. UNC-Chapel Hill lost to VA Tech after being ranked #10 in preseason polls. But NCSU stomped South Florida and Wake Forest easily beat Old Dominion. No real challenges in those last 2 games. Most other NC teams faced other NC teams. I think ACC teams lost more games than they won on opening weekend, but the teams that won mostly faced lower level teams. BC spanking Colgate means nothing, Pitt stomping UMass might mean something. Syracuse & Virginia winning and Clemson & GA Tech & FL State losing all might not mean much either. Louisville got beat pretty good by Mississippi though. I'm not sure what is in store for the ACC season.

I'd say the biggest game of the 1st weekend was Clemson vs. Georgia. It met the hype with a 10-3 win by GA. I'm looking forward to more battles between the ACC and SEC and toss in some Big-10 matchups with the ACC and SEC teams. The Pac-12 really needs to start making some matches against east coast teams. It looks like that is partially in the works with the vague announcement from the ACC, Big-10 and Pac-12 that they are working together to form some kind of agreement that keeps other leagues from taking away their teams while sharing media rights and funds. I really wish the leagues would give some more info about what exactly they are working on with this deal. If there is basically a 40-school "super-deal" for licensing with 3 different leagues involved, this could change a lot about the future of college leagues and teams switching leagues whenever another league offered them more money based off of TV rights. I don't like these leagues taking in teams from other leagues, especially when the team doesn't fit the title of the league. The "Atlantic Coast Conference" is not where Syracuse and Pittsburgh should be and certainly not Notre Dame (even though ND is still independant in football). Boston College fits the ACC but is WAY farther north than all the other teams. I think that is why they chased more teams north of Virginia, especially since Maryland left the league at the same time. I think Maryland left because of all the new teams and it opened a door to play teams west of them instead of just south of them. The SEC has basically stayed the same until the ACC started taking teams from them in the 80's and 90's and now the SEC is taking revenge. Miami fits for either league, but the ACC wanted another powerhouse FL team in football. They wanted a team to challenge FL State in football but to also be a plank for ACC baseball and other sports. The Carolinas dominated ACC sports outside of football for a long time before the ACC expanded outside of those sports. I like that the ACC has so much competitiveness in every sport now. ACC basketball and football is WAY more interesting now than it was before 1989 when FL State joined the league. Adding other teams since then has only made it more competitive for every sport. But I don't like the addition of teams after the ACC got to 12 teams. They have been unneccessary and is not adding to the league. Louisville, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Syracuse were not a needed fit for the league. Outside of Louisville, nothing has added much to the level of sports in the ACC. The other teams have stepped up their game though to become relevant in the ACC since they joined. Boston College has become the bottom of the league in most sports now. But Syracuse is now sitting at the bottom of the league in many sports as well. Pitt has upped their game and ND has done the same since joining the ACC. It's odd that the top teams that the ACC recruited to join them were already good in their previous leagues, but took many years to top the ACC teams. And some of them still get nowhere in some sports.