Troy’s football team has found its Mojo … Plus, Chris Amos’s take on this weekend’s games … Photos from downtown Holiday Market and a 5K fund-raiser to benefit the late bike lover Owen Lewis.
I also wonder if some of these "borderline" playoff teams should even want to play in a conference championship game. Take Alabama, which should be 10-2 after the regular season concludes. If the Tide is picked to play in the conference title game (probably against Texas) and loses that game it will have three losses. How many SEC teams will make the playoff field? Would Alabama, with three losses (perhaps a blowout loss against Texas) make the field ahead of two-loss Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M? Who knows? Maybe not.
Also, that game is another chance to get key players hurt right before the playoffs. In fact, Alabama might have lost another national title when it lost its best receiver in a Conference title game.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day, these conference championship games are eliminated as they will invariably end up keeping "deserving" teams out of the all-important playoffs. Then again, these games make a ton of money for Disney/ESPN and the conferences that hold them ... so these conference title games will probably remain.
I am very confident that in a couple of years the playoff field will be expanded to 16 teams - which will probably finally kill off the bowl games.
In today's column, Chris Amos opines that Alabama fans were pulling for Georgia Saturday against Tennessee (as the Vols loss also gives them two defeats on the season). However, as a Bama fan, I couldn't decide who I should pull for in this game. If Tennessee won, they would almost certainly make the SEC title game and play Texas. Even if it didn't play in that game, Alabama would probably make the playoff field ahead of Georgia since Alabama beat Georgia.
Right now, I'd like Alabama's chances in a playoff game against Oregon or Indiana. Especially if Alabama was well-rested and didn't get anyone hurt in the SEC title game.
Winning a conference title is still a big deal, but winning a national title is a bigger deal.
The plethora of drive-killing penalties that determine the outcomes of all close games has long been a pet peeve of mine. I say the refs should "let them play" and keep the hankies in their pockets on borderline calls or possible infractions that don't affect the outcome of the play.
Alas, many officials must think they are getting paid by the penalty and that fans show up to watch these great officials in action. Watch the rest of the season - from high school to the NFL - and note all the games that are determined by dubious penalties.
I forgot to add a sidebar box Troy SID provided me that shows how many new players Troy has this year - more than any team in the country. Troy also had more portal transfers leave after last season than almost every team in the country. This meant this was always going to be a challenging season.
I've now added those interesting factoids for those interested.
I apologize for the typos, which I correct as soon as I find them .... which, alas, is 1 to 59 minutes after I post my dispatches. Once we have more subscribers, maybe I can employ a part-time copy editor. Right now, I only have Annie, our little mix-breed dog and she's not really very good at this job.
Readers can also let me know of bad or embarrassing mistakes in this Reader Comments section.
I also wonder if some of these "borderline" playoff teams should even want to play in a conference championship game. Take Alabama, which should be 10-2 after the regular season concludes. If the Tide is picked to play in the conference title game (probably against Texas) and loses that game it will have three losses. How many SEC teams will make the playoff field? Would Alabama, with three losses (perhaps a blowout loss against Texas) make the field ahead of two-loss Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M? Who knows? Maybe not.
Also, that game is another chance to get key players hurt right before the playoffs. In fact, Alabama might have lost another national title when it lost its best receiver in a Conference title game.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day, these conference championship games are eliminated as they will invariably end up keeping "deserving" teams out of the all-important playoffs. Then again, these games make a ton of money for Disney/ESPN and the conferences that hold them ... so these conference title games will probably remain.
I am very confident that in a couple of years the playoff field will be expanded to 16 teams - which will probably finally kill off the bowl games.
In today's column, Chris Amos opines that Alabama fans were pulling for Georgia Saturday against Tennessee (as the Vols loss also gives them two defeats on the season). However, as a Bama fan, I couldn't decide who I should pull for in this game. If Tennessee won, they would almost certainly make the SEC title game and play Texas. Even if it didn't play in that game, Alabama would probably make the playoff field ahead of Georgia since Alabama beat Georgia.
Right now, I'd like Alabama's chances in a playoff game against Oregon or Indiana. Especially if Alabama was well-rested and didn't get anyone hurt in the SEC title game.
Winning a conference title is still a big deal, but winning a national title is a bigger deal.
The plethora of drive-killing penalties that determine the outcomes of all close games has long been a pet peeve of mine. I say the refs should "let them play" and keep the hankies in their pockets on borderline calls or possible infractions that don't affect the outcome of the play.
Alas, many officials must think they are getting paid by the penalty and that fans show up to watch these great officials in action. Watch the rest of the season - from high school to the NFL - and note all the games that are determined by dubious penalties.
I forgot to add a sidebar box Troy SID provided me that shows how many new players Troy has this year - more than any team in the country. Troy also had more portal transfers leave after last season than almost every team in the country. This meant this was always going to be a challenging season.
I've now added those interesting factoids for those interested.
I apologize for the typos, which I correct as soon as I find them .... which, alas, is 1 to 59 minutes after I post my dispatches. Once we have more subscribers, maybe I can employ a part-time copy editor. Right now, I only have Annie, our little mix-breed dog and she's not really very good at this job.
Readers can also let me know of bad or embarrassing mistakes in this Reader Comments section.
Great article Bill. Veterans Memorial Stadium is a great place to watch a football game!!
so sad about that poor little kid - and what his parents must be going through
with myocarditis, it makes you wonder if he was exposed to the covid shot
i don't believe troy u. ever mandated the shot, is that correct?
Right. Troy University didn't make the shots mandatory for students.