Thursday, December 12, 2024

Bowl Beverage Boogaloo 2024/2025

                                                     


                                                    Welcome to Bowl Beverage Boogaloo!!!!

                                             Making meaningless games meaningful for years.

A league where people pick college bowl games and the winner gets beer.



It's the 9th Cricket Celebration Bowl
Jackson State Tigers -1 (11-2, SWAC Champs) vs South Carolina State Bulldogs (9-2, MEAC Champs)
Mercedes Benz Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.  
12/14 noon ABC

The only FCS bowl game is the defacto HBCU national championship game.  Jackson State's Irv Mulligan broke the school's single season rushing record that was held by Walter fucking Peyton.  

It's the 11th IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl. (previously Camelia Bowl)


Western Michigan Broncos (6-6, 5th in the MAC) vs South Alabama Jaguars -7.5 (6-6, 4th in the Sun Belt West)
12/14 9:00 pm ESPN

Montgomery, Alabama welcomes these two .500 teams to decide who is better at Saluting Veterans.  The game is sponsored by IS4S (Integrated Solutions for Systems) who's company logo is:

The whole thing sounds made up and it would be an evil shell company for an Eastern European Terrorist Group in a middling Bond movie.  So see if they can take over the world or if South Alabama can cover the spread, but really other than Max what are any of us doing on a Saturday Night?  So sit back and see if South Alabama tops the 87 points they scored in a game earlier this season.


It's the 7th Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl

Memphis Tigers -4.5 (10-2, 4th American Conference) vs West Virginia Mountaineers (6-6 9th in the Big 12)
12/17 9:00 ESPN

West Virginia fired their coach so you know they were psyched about playing in the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl.  And why wouldn't they?  The Frisco Bowl is the only bowl win in the history of Kent State so you know it's Big Time.  Ohio State hasn't even come close to holding the Frisco Bowl trophy. Plus it's in Toyota Stadium which is a MLS stadium you know we are all big fans of the football games being played in other sports stadiums.   
(In your dreams, Buckeyes!)


It's the 11th Boca Raton Bowl!

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (8-5, 2nd in C-USA) vs James Madison Dukes -9.5 (8-4, 3rd in Sun Belt East)
12/18 5:30 ESPN

The Dukes have a top 5 stingiest defense in points allowed per drive.  While Western Kentucky sports a bottom 5 rush defense.  This game is going to be slow and plodding which will work perfectly for the city of Boca Raton retirement community with 24% of the city being over 65 years old.  But people come out for this game with attendance over 20,000 every non Covid year.   Western Kentucky has already won this venerable game twice in the past and former Boca Raton Bowl MVP's include QB's who would go on to start an NFL game like Zach Wilson and Bailey Zappe.  

It's the 4th Art of Sport LA Bowl hosted by Gronk

#24 University of Nevada Las Vegas Running Rebels (10-3, 2nd in the Mountain West) vs California Golden Bears (6-6 14th in the ACC)
12/18 9:00 ESPN
In an always crowd pleasing matchup of two word mascots, these two teams will take over Sofi stadium in Los Angeles. What the hell is Art of Sport you ask?  I promise you would never guess that it is a skin care line directed towards athletes co-founded by Kobe Bryant.  Let Gronk help you with exfoliation as you sit back and enjoy this game.  UNLV coach Barry Odom has already left to take the Purdue job so his skin must already be on point to miss out on this opportunity.  This season Cal lost 4 consecutive ACC games by a grand total of 9 points.  



It's the 24th R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl!


Georgia Southern Eagles -6 (8-4, 2nd in the Sun Belt East) vs Sam Houston Bearkats (9-3 3rd in Conference USA)
12/19 7:00 ESPN

Sam Houston was the first and third president of Texas when it was an independent nation for a bit, was the governor of both Tennessee and Texas.  The only person in the history of the United States to do so.  The Bearkat with a "k" is made up and they changed the letter to be their own thing so they kooky krazy kids for that.  KC Keeler, which sounds like a porn star name, left Sam Houston after 11 season as coach to take the head job at Temple missing the first Division 1 bowl appearance for the school in history.  Georgia Southern is coached by former USC head man Clay Helton who has won a Rose Bowl and his brother is the head man Western Kentucky which we all watched last night.  Hopefully there is a third brother tomorrow.    
 

It's the 10th StaffDNA Cure Bowl!
Ohio Bobcats -3 (10-3, MAC champions) vs Jacksonville State Gamecocks (9-4,Conference USA Champs)
12/20 noon ESPN

Both conference champs have lost their coaches to other schools after winning the conference.  Rich Rodriguez left to return to West Virginia and a power 5 school.  Tim Albain left Ohio to coach to...Charlotte.  Huh?  The interim coaches are both named Smith so don't get confused.  Jacksonville State has Rod and Ohio has Brian.  Brock Rechsteiner is a receiver for Jacksonville State.  He had 13 catches, 225 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Gamecocks.  But the important part is that he is son the Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner.  This game is played in Camping World Bowl in Orlando which has hosted two Wrestlemanias (24 and 33, 24 is way better).   

Update
***Brian Smith was named the official head coach on 12/18***

It's the 16th annual Union Home Mortgage Gaspirilla Bowl!

Florida Gators -14 (7-5, 10th in the SEC) vs Tulane Green Wave (9-4, 2nd in the American)
12/20 3:30 ESPN

This game is played in a stadium with a pirate ship and it's named after a pirate, so what does a guy have to do to get the East Carolina Pirates to play in this game.  Insane fact in the 15 years of this bowl game, no one has ever returned a fumble for even one additional yard.  If Raymond James Stadium's 168.5 million construction cost was paid via Union Home Mortgage on an interest free loan, the city of Tampa would have had to make a monthly payment of $500,000 to have it paid off before kickoff.  But don't worry it was paid for with rental car taxes and fees on parking near the stadium.



Notre Dame Fighting Irish -7 (11-1) vs Indiana Hoosiers (11-1, 3rd in the Big 10)
12/20 8:00 ABC

Whatever. Playoff game.  This game doesn't even have a name and one of them will play again in a week. But pick it, because gambling is so fucking good. 


Southern Methodist Mustangs (11-2, 2nd ACC) vs Penn State Nittany Lions  -8.5 (11-2, Big 10)
12/21 noon TNT/Max

Whatever. Playoff game.  This game doesn't even have a name and one of them will play again in a week. But pick it, because gambling is so fucking good. 

Texas Longhorns -11.5 (11-2, 2nd in the SEC) vs Clemson Tigers (10-3, 1st in ACC)
12/21 4:00 TNT/Max

Whatever. Playoff game.  This game doesn't even have a name and one of them will play again in a week. But pick it, because gambling is so fucking good. 

Ohio State Buckeyes -7 (10-2, 4th in the Big Ten) vs Tennessee Volunteers (10-2, 3rd in the SEC)
12/21 8:00 ABC

Whatever. Playoff game.  This game doesn't even have a name and one of them will play again in a week. But pick it, because gambling is so fucking good. 

It's 5th annual Myrtle Beach Bowl!


Coastal Carolina Chantileers  (6-6, 5th Sun Belt East) vs Texas San Antonio Road Runners -9 (6-6, 7th American)

Coastal Carolina is playing in their home channel while UTSA gets to head to a beach with a balmy 45 degrees.  I'm sure Myrtle Beach is a blast for 18-22 year olds in December.   But hey, the Myrtle Beach Bowl has the always crowd pleasing alternate teal colored field at Brooks Stadium which was named after the guy who bought Hooters and franchised it and took it national, Robert Brooks.  Brooks stadium has it's highest attendance ever this year for  game between Virginia and Coastal Carolina.  


Plaque outside stadium that looks like Brooks is being inducted into the horny old guy Hall of Fame. 


It's the 28th Famous Idaho Potato Bowl!

Northern Illinois Huskies -3 (7-5 7th Mid American) vs Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6, 4th Mountain West)
12/23 2:30 ESPN

It's our 2nd game of the day on a blue field.  The Northern Illinois Huskies were the only team to beat Notre Dame all season and then proceeded to lose to 5 other teams, none of which won more than 8 games.  But we are all here for the same thing, the post game French Fry dump.   Both teams have several draft picks in the secondary and the game is usually very windy, so don't expect a lot of damage through the air.  Unless you are 2017 game MVP, Josh Allen and Big E and I are watching the game at 3 Brothers tavern with other Coke guys, probably Jerry Harris.  I have no idea why this is a core memory for me.  

It's the 24th annual Hawaii Bowl!
South Florida Bulls (6-6, 6th American) vs San Jose Spartans -3.5 (7-5, 5th in the Mountain West)
12/24 8:00 ESPN

While you are putting the gifts under the tree, watch Christmas in paradise.  Big E enjoy the next morning as you get your first magic of Christmas morning.  It's good shit.  Max, I know for a fact that your Christmas morning will suck.  San Jose is trying to not suck and get it's first 8 win season since 2012.  The Hawaii Bowl used to be played in Aloha stadium but the stadium was deemed unsafe to hold events in 2020 and now the game is played at Clarence TC Ching Athletics Complex.  Which was formally Hawaii's practice field which they have since added seating around the field.  San Jose is coached by native Hawaiian and former Hawaii QB.  He is the first and only head coach of Samoan descent in FBS history. 







It's the 10th annual GameAbove Sports Bowl!



Toledo Rockets (7-5, 6th in the MAC) vs Pittsburgh Panthers -6.5 (7-5, 10th in the ACC)
12/26 2:00 ESPN

If you can figure out what the fuck gameabove actually does, then you are smarter than me.  What the shit is this?  This feels like some bullshit stock bros would sell to people in over their heads just to bilk them off their retirement funds to spend extra on date rape drugs.  This is the combined 8th time that these schools have "won" a trip to Detroit.  It takes less than an hour to drive from the campus of Toledo to Ford Field.  Anything can happen in this bowl as the MVP of the 2016 game was the entire defensive line of Boston College. 

It's the 35th Rate Bowl!

Rutgers Scarlett Knights (7-5, 9th Big 10) vs Kansas State Wildcats -7 (8-4, 8th in Big 12)
12/26 5:30 ESPN

They dropped the Guaranteed from the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, because just like in life nothing is guaranteed. that I can guarantee.  It's the only matchup between Big 10 and Big 12 schools.  It's played at Chase Field, the new home of Josh Naylor, whom the Guardians traded for this solid return.    This is the 12th name of this bowl in it's 35 years.  We will see what it's called next year.  Stacker 2? Hot Wheels? Preparation H? 


It's the 26th 68 Ventures Bowl!

Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-5, 3rd Sun Belt West) vs Bowling Green Falcons -8 (7-5, 4th in MAC)

12/26 9:00 ESPN

The Bowling Green Falcons lost by a single score to both Penn State and Texas A&M and narrowly missed out on the MAC title game.  Red Wolves coach Butch Jones has now taken 4 programs to take bowl games, one of three coaches ever to do so.  BG's Harold Fannin (McKinley) become the second tight end to ever be named a conference player of the year and is likely to be a 2nd round pick.  68 Ventures is a Gulf Coast real estate development firm who buys up trailer parks from poor southern assholes and then builds mcmansions for rich southern assholes.  


It's the 22nd Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners -3 (6-6, 13 in the SEC) vs Navy Midshipmen (3rd in the American)
12/27 noon ESPN

Navy won the Commander in Chief trophy this year after sweeping Air Force and Army.  They hope to add the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl trophy to add to their case. This game usually books one of the service academies as they are three of the top four most appearances.  (Houston is 2nd with 5th appearances) Since Lockheed Martin is a government weapons contractor stay tuned for ads for the company even though their customer base is literally like 4 dudes in the Pentagon.  I like to imagine 5 star generals watching the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl together and be like, "You know what Navy QB Blake Horvath and those new bunker buster bombs have in common?  They are explosive as hell.  Pass the queso dip, if ya don't mind, General."



It's the 18th Birmingham Bowl!
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets -2.5 (7-5, 6th ACC) vs Vanderbilt Commodores (6-6, 12th SEC)

12/27 3:30 ESPN 

Our crack research team has discovered that the Birmingham Bowl is played in Birmingham, Alabama.  This city invites two frisky mediocre teams who played extremely close or defeated the bluebloods of the college football world.  Vanderbilt only won 2 games last year and moved all the way to 6 victories.    Haynes King (GT) and Diego Pavia (Vandy) are two of the more exciting college QB's in the nation.  


It's the 66th AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Arkansas Razorbacks -1.5 (6-6, 11th SEC) vs Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4, 6th Big 12)
12/27 7:00 ESPN

Both team's sputtered towards the end but Give them an AutoZone Liberty Bowl win or give them an AutoZone Liberty Bowl death.  This is Arkansas 7th appearance in the Liberty bowl, which is the most all time.  Tahj Brooks broke the career rushing record for the Red Raiders.  Arkansas had three one score losses as a much better season was within in their grasp.  

Its the 45th Holiday Bowl!

#21 Syracuse Orange -16.5 (9-3, 4th ACC) vs Washington State Cougars (8-4 #2 in Pac-12)
12/27 8:00 ES.... Whoa FOX.

Washington State lost head coach Jack Diekert to Wake Forest because he really likes having a conference.  Syracuse is led by former Ohio State QB Kyle McCord, and the Orange have defeated two top 25 teams this season.  Washington State started 8-1 and was ranked in the top 20 before closing their season off with losses to Oregon State, New Mexico, and Wyoming.  Yuck.  I finally cancelled my DirectTV after well over a decade of service.  Don't charge me extra just for the right to pay extra for local sports, dickholes.  Also big shout out to Kevin Ferrell for never using cable apps so I can use that Spectrum for sports at my house.  

It's the 32nd SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl!
Texas A&M Aggies -4 (8-4, 8th SEC) vs University of Southern California Trojans (6-6, 10th in Big Ten)

12/27 10:30 ESPN

If you just look at the team names, USC vs Texas AM and you can trick yourself into believing this is a big game.  SRS is a group that distributes home building supplies mainly roofing, in our area it would be the Willoughby Supply stores.  Not available in Canada, Dan.  You will continue to have to use maple syrup to tar your roof.  Former Browns QB savior selected by Hue Jackson, Cody Kessler was the 2013 MVP.  Two programs headed in different directions meet in Vegas.  Apropos because Vegas is where you go to celebrate and in a last ditch effort to turn in around before you implode.  

It's the 3rd Fenway Bowl!


 UCONN Huskies (8-4) vs North Carolina Tar Heels -2.5 (6-6, 12th ACC)

12/28 11:00 AM ESPN

North Carolina will have Bill Belicheck next season replacing a HOF national championship coach in Mack Brown.  But in the interim? We get Freddie Mutha Fucking Kitchens!  As I sent out weeks ago, we got two basketball schools playing football in a baseball stadium.  This is what bowl season is all about.  So order in some Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse and enjoy.  

It's the 14th Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl!

Nebraska Cornhuskers -4 (6-6, 12th in Big Ten) vs Boston College Eagles (7-5, 9th ACC)
12/28 Noon ABC

Thanks to Bad Boy Mowers excellent cutting speed and turn radius, the Yankee Stadium ground crew had time to practice their routines after maintaining that the grass.  Nebraska had not been to a bowl game since 2016, snapping one of the longest bowl drought in the nation.  The longest?  UMASS and Louisiana-Monroe since 2012.   UMASS joined FBS that year and ULM played in the Independence Bowl.  Watch some medicore teams battle at Yankee stadium before the baseball season, when the Yankees will have an all star at every position because baseball's system is absolutely broken.  


It's the 19th Isleta New Mexico Bowl!



Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (10-3, 2nd in Sun Belt) vs Texas Christian Horn Frogs -10 (8-4, 7th Big 12)

12/28 2:15 ESPN

It's only been 2 years since TCU made the national championship game which feels like much longer.  After a dissapointing season last year, the Horned Frogs return to a bowl game in a sneaky good matchup. Coach Michael Desormeaux is a former Cajun QB himself and has a Cajun name.  He's the perfect head coach for the school.    The game is sponsored by a Native American casino, so make sure to bet on this one.  


It's the 35th Pop Tarts Bowl!


#18 Iowa State Hawkeyes (10-3, 2nd in Big 12) vs #13 Miami Hurricanes -4 (10-2, 3rd in ACC)
12/28 3:30 ABC

The granddaddy of bowl bullshit baby!  We've got multiple flavored mascots who will be eaten by the winning team.  Iowa State is led by Perry graduate Matt Campbell.  But he is a human and not an anthropomorphic pop tart that will be sacrificed as tribute to the victors.  Miami QB Cam Ward could end up being the new Browns QB if enough team's lose ahead of them.  But is Cam Ward one of the 3, yes that's right 3, different living flavors of mascots that will be running around Camping World Stadium? Wild Berry, Hot Fudge Sundae, and Cinnamon Roll.  Sit back and enjoy the marketing ridiculousness.  

It's the 9th Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl presented by Gin and Juice by Dre and Snoop!

12/28 4:30 CW network

Miami Redhawks -2.5 (8-5, 2nd MAC) vs Colorado State Rams (8-4, 3rd Mountain West)

Just the name itself of this bowl makes it worth watching.  Snoop Dogg will be doing shenanigans all game long.  Gin and Juice is 86 proof and an 8 pack variety is $35.99.  Both of these teams started rough before ripping off a ton of wins in conference.  The game is played at Arizona's stadium and will be called by Thom Brennaman who famously was fired as the Red's announcer because he complained about Kansas City being one of the "fag" capitals of the world and then called a homerun mid apology.  There should be bullshit abound in this one.  

It's the 15th GoBowling Military Bowl!


East Carolina Pirates (7-5, 5th American) vs North Carolina State Wolfpack -7 (6-6, 11th ACC)

12/28 5:45 ESPN

GoBowling, which is network of independent bowling alleys, is giving away free bowling for year.  All you have to do is fill out this quick form.   Just don't click the newsletter box and it's worry free. The closest GoBowling member lane is Parke Center Lanes on Whipple.  If you want to hit the lanes, I recommend this place as they let people with special needs bowl for $2 a game and free shoe rental.  East Carolina usually plays all the ACC Carolina schools real tough as the like to smack their big brothers.  

It's the 32nd Valero Alamo Bowl!
#23 Colorado Buffalo -3.5 (9-3, 4th in Big 12) vs #17 Brigham Young Cougars (10-2, 3rd in Big 12)

12/28 7:30 ABC

This is a matchup of two Big 12 teams because the Alamo Bowl holds first rights of selections from the Big 12 and teams that were in the PAC-12 last season but these two did not play during the regular season.  This game features probable number 1 pick in the NFL draft, Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.  I don't understand it because I am not young enough to understand the verbiage but the internet hates his girlfriend. BYU coach, Kalani Sitake is the first Tongan head coach, while Colorado coach Deon Sanders is the first Prime Time coach.  

It's the 48th Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl!

#22 Army Black Knights (10-2, 1st in American) vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-7, 5th in Conference USA)

This was originally supposed to pair the American champion Army against the Sun Belt champion Marshall Thundering Herd, but Marshall's coach didn't have a contract past this year and was hired by the last place Southern Miss Eagles and almost every player left the program so they had to withdraw. This is the second time Marshall didn't have enough players. The La Tech Bulldogs have plenty not good players hanging around as they went below .500 in Conference USA.  The Bulldogs did lose three games in overtime this season, so maybe they are above average.  

It's the 26th Music City Bowl!
#19 Missouri Tigers (9-3, 7th SEC) -2.5 vs Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4, Big Ten 6th in Big Ten)
12/30 2:30 ESPN

Before Jason gets all upset and refusing to pick this game because he gets angry at "Trans" because of the tingly feeling he gets in his swimsuit no no zone, Transperfect is a language translation service.  I hope Nashville bachelorette parties don't get ruined by football like they did for the NFL draft a few years ago.  Не могу дождаться, когда вы, куски человеческих экскрементов, снова принесете мне тонны напитков.  Transperfect works well.  This is in Russian. Missouri didn't beat a team with more than 7 wins all season while Iowa only beat one as well.  Let's see if either of these teams are actually any good. 

It's the 39th Reliaquest Bowl!

Alabama Crimson Tide -13.5 (9-3, 4th in the SEC) vs Michigan Wolverines (7-5, 7th in the Big Ten)
12/31 noon ESPN

Two bluebloods coming off disappointing seasons will try to build some momentum towards next season in our second game in Raymond James Stadium.  However this game will be ignoring the giant pirate ship.  Will they have a giant Reliquest ship.  That would be sweet.  Whatever the heck a Reliquest is.  It's a cyber security company so you could get this Bigs to protect your onlyfans password.  Big E has tits in bio.  His own hairy sloppy ones, but still.  Tits be tits.  

It's the 91st Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl!

Louisville Cardinals (8-4, 5th in ACC) -1 vs Washington Huskies (6-6, 11th in Big 10)
12/31 2:00 CBS

It's tied for the second oldest bowl and an amazingly beautiful game. The stadium in El Paso is a thing of beauty.    Washington was selected for this game as a ghost Pac-12 team.  Washington had a rebuilding season after making the title game.  Washington didn't beat anyone impressive and Louisville beat Clemson as part of their rough conference schedule (also played SMU, Miami, and Notre Dame)  Take in the beauty and a bowl of cereal and enjoy.


It's the 79th Citrus Bowl!

#15 South Carolina Gamecocks -10 (9-3, 6th in SEC) vs #20 Illinois Fighting Illini (9-3, 5th in the Big Ten)

12/31 3:00 ABC

South Carolina ended it's season on a three game win streak all over ranked teams and had an outside shot to make the college football playoff.  Luckily for them, they did not get in because cheesy snack crackers aren't involved with the playoffs.  Illinois had their best season in years but none of their wins were over ranked teams so this will be a good test of who wants in more.  

It's the 18th Texas Bowl!

Baylor Bears (8-4, 5th in Big 12) -3.5 vs Louisiana State Tigers (8-4, 9th in SEC)
12/31 3:30 ESPN

Kinder's is a sauce and rub company so I will turn to our resident smoker, Jason.  Is this is a quality product?  The Kinder's Texas Bowl is played in the Texans stadium.  The players all get belt buckles for playing in the game and if you should not be surprised that college football players put that thing on ebay right away.  Here is one that sold a few days ago.  Baylor is on a 6 game win streak and LSU is always chock full of future NFL players, whom have probably all left the team already.  


It's the 54th VRBO Fiesta Bowl!

#6 Penn State Nittany Lions (12-2, second in the Big Ten) -11 vs #4 Boise State Broncos (12-1 Mountain West Champions)

12/31 7:30 ESPN 

The official name of this game which will be used in all communication with points removed as penalty is the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl.  Boise State is led by all world running back, Ashton Jeanty.  Jeanty had more rushing yards than 115 of the 134 division one teams.  Can Boise State pull of the first memorable upset in the playoff like they pulled off the first upset of the BCS era over Oklahoma?  Penn State coach James Franklin is 3-19 all time vs top 10 teams so the Nittany Lions could be ripe for the upset.  This game is confusing to me as there is a sponsor and the game is at a neutral site but one of these teams will play again.  It's goes against God's plan.  I think it's listed in the Old Testament right by the part about going to hell for eating pork.  

It's the 57th Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl aka the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl!

#5 Texas Longhorns -13 (12-2, 2nd in the SEC) vs #4 Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2, Big 12 Champs)
1/1 1:00 ESPN

Texas lost to Georgia twice this season and nobody else.  While the Sun Devils won the Big 12 in their first year in the Big 12.  This game is played in Mercedes Benz Dome in Atlanta which does have a full Chick-Fil-A restaurant inside of it.  The stadium is mainly used for Atlanta Falcons games which are normally on Sunday when the restaurant is closed. When I think of Arizona State, I will always think of this guy.     

It's the 111th Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals

#8 Ohio State Buckeyes -2.5 (11-2, 4th in Big Ten) vs #1 Oregon Ducks (13-0, 1st in Big Ten)

1/1 5:00 ESPN 

The Oregon Ducks were the only undefeated team in the nation included in that perfect season was a 1 point win over Ohio State.  The Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential somehow is a rematch of conference opponents but also feels like a traditional PAC12 vs Big 10 matchup.  This is another beautiful visual of a game.  All of this sponsorship excellence would not be possible without the town of Pasedena wanting to promote it's New Year's Day Parade.   So you respect the granddaddy of them all. 

It's the 91st All State Sugar Bowl!
#2 Georgia Bulldogs (11-2, SEC Champs) vs #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-1)
1/1 8:00 ESPN

Notre Dame continues to only have been defeated by some MACtion and Georgia continues duck the Maction like cowards.  They will be in good hands in New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl.  Georgia defeated Notre Dame in the 1981 Sugar Bowl to win the national championship but nobody in this pool was even born when that game was played.  It was a much better time then.

It's the 80th Tax Slayer Gator Bowl!

#14 Ole Miss Rebels -17 (9-3, 5th SEC) vs Duke Blue Devils (9-3, 7th ACC) 
1/2 7:30 ESPN

In a rare new coach takes over for a successful coach and the program doesn't crater, Manny Diaz led the Blue Devils to an impressive season.  Although they didn't beat a ranked team all season.  Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffen has spent the past few weeks shit posting on twitter about not taking more SEC teams but got silent after Tennessee got boat raced.  So sit back and do your taxes which became law with the 16th amendment to ratified in 1913 while watching this game on TV.  Don't go in person because the Gator Bowl is played in Jacksonville which is an absolute shit hole of a town.  


It's the 15th ServPro First Responder Bowl!

Texas State Bobcats -13.5 (7-5, 2nd in the Sun Belt West) vs North Texas Mean Green (6-6, 9th in the American)
1/3 4:00 ESPN

Texas State gets to play in the ServPro First Responder Bowl for the second consecutive year.  Earning the right to earn a trip 3 hours and 40 minutes by bus North to Dallas.  The North Texas Mean Green gets head 45 minutes North as their reward for a successful season.  The game used to be played in the Cotton Bowl to large crowds but has since been switched to SMU's stadium to crowds that barely break 10,000.  That was also when the game featured a Big Ten vs Big 12 matchup instead of the last picks of eligible teams.  Servpro is a company that comes in a cleans up after a natural disaster so hopefully people in post disaster tent cities are watching the game.  They even cancelled the game because of storms a few years ago so hopefully it actually get played.

It's the 23rd Duke's Mayo Bowl!


Minnesota Golden Gophers -9 (7-5, 8th in Big Ten) vs Virginia Tech Hokies (6-6, 8th in ACC)
1/3 7:30 ESPN

This game is all about the Duke's Mayonnaise bath that the winning coach is going to take.  The players spent time driving NASCAR cars in Charlotte which means they are ready to transfer to Georgia.    

Why does AI think mayonnaise is yellow?  


It's the 10th Bahamas Bowl presented by Atlantis Resorts!


Buffalo Bulls -3 (8-4, 3rd in MAC) vs Liberty University (8-3, 4th in Conference USA) 

1/4 11:00 ESPN

What a reward to get out of Buffalo in January or an Evangelical conservative University any time, to get to go to the Bahamas Bowl presented by Atlantis Resorts.  I have been to the waterpark there that a cruise ship stopped at.  Rode this waterslide and got insanely burnt.  Not as burnt as Liberty was as their game against App State was cancelled due to a hurricane and not made up.  Liberty's Quinton Cooley who has rushed for over 1,250 yards in a back to back seasons will match up with Buffalo's All American linebacker Shaun Dolac.  


























































Tuesday, December 10, 2024

HTPB 23.14 Regular Season Recap

 


The regular season is over and the playoffs begin or Dan calls it, the forbidden zone.  


Italian Stallions defeat Bay-Bay's
A horse and mountie play a meaningless game

This game had nothing to do with anything, but still held to form as Bay-Bay's lost again.  BB has never made the playoffs or even be .500.  He is a fitting successor to Big Cat's seat at the table but minus the goodwill.  Dan saw Kirk Cousins throw 8 interceptions since his last TD and said, "This is who I am starting over a Super Bowl champion with Puka and Kupp at receiver."  Italian Stallions completed a regular season where he scored at least 100 points in every single week.  Bay-bay's however won a single game this season that weren't over historically shitty BL and BG.


Eh Big Dude defeats Stabmybalzrepeatedly
A man falls asleep at the wheel and runs into a tree.

SMBR had an outside shot at continuing the longest playoff streak in the league but decided to take a hard pass on that.  The holder of the longest playoff streak is now LZ with 4.  We have several playoff streaks going as 5 of the 7 playoff teams also made it last year.  This also snaps SMBR 4 game win streak.  The running back tandem of Sincere McCormick and Johnathan Brooks were able to hold back SMBR.  EBD waiting all season for week 10.  He's 3-2 in that time frame as he looks to end the second longest active playoff win drought in HTPB.  (IS)  


Bricklayers defeat Ogre's Death Squad

Josh Allen beats and shames the commissioner.

Bricklayers avoided the worst season in HTPB history.  While ODS continues the commissioner curse, as ODS has not made the championship game since his undefeated season.  More recent Super Bowl participants than ODS...Deez nuts (4), Big Easy Ballers (2), and Big Cat's Crushers.  Josh Allen set a fantasy record for a QB with 55 points.  Combined with the 36 points from Charbonnet allowed BL to walk away from this game with revenge for the super unlucky schedule that he was given by the commissioner.  He should have been in 13th place not 14th place.  

Hardcore Cabinet defeats Blue Gatorade

Hardcore Cabinet snapped a three game losing streak to enter the playoffs as the number 2 seed.  He was able to score in the top half of the league and win despite HC having their top two scoring players on bye.  Blue Gatorade's awful team is finally being put out of it's misery.  The fact that this team won 4 games this season will be studied by scientists and historians for centuries.  The addition of Isaac Guerrendo was boom to HC as the new 49ers running back scored 24 points.  Just like Bricklayers, BG scored the most points they have all season in the final week.  Can Hardcore Cabinet be the first team in HTPB to repeat as champion? HC is tied for the best playoff winning percentage in league history with 66%


The Collegians defeat Big Nasty Express

Big Nasty Express is very bad at fantasy football.  How bad you ask?  His 11 playoff victories in 23 seasons.  That is half a playoff win a year.  In the last twenty years, he has maxxed out in 3rd place (3 times).  This season BNE put up point totals of 36, 71, 67, 80, and 72.  The Big Nasty Express has rode that train straight to the Shit Station.    Can the Collegians continue to ride the Burrow/Chase train to the title.  The Bengals have a remaining schedule of Tenn, Cle, and Denver. 



Rush'n Missiles defeat Tinker Stinkers
A wolf rips his own heart out to give to another wolf so it may live.

Don't look now but RM has gone from being perennially shitty to perennially mediocre as they have made the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years, but in that time span have won just has many playoff games as toilet trophies (1).  Tinker Stinkers made moves all year to fight from being awful to being okay.  Mahomes never really got it together and it cost Tinker Stinkers as he is now in his longest playoff drought of his career, two years, or as IS has called that over the years: A hot streak. 

Los Zapatistas defeat Dollars

A wolf in a sombrero flees from his bank heist carrying comical money bags.

The Shoes hopes the playoffs are more similar to the beginning of the season when his team was dominant rather than the second half of the year when he was just good.  Don't look know but Dollars has broken 100 6 out of the last 7 weeks as he prepares to lose in his third straight Super Bowl.  The matchup was fairly even with both getting solid contributions all around especially from running backs.  


1. EBD 124-45
2. LZ 123-46
3. IS 120-49
4. HC 118-51


5. Dollars 89-80
6. TC 86-83
7. RM 82-87

Frisky

8. ODS 77-92
9. TS 76-93
10. BB 72-97
11. BNE 71-98

Not good


12.  SMBR 62-107

bad


13. BL 46-123

terrible


14. BG 37-132

historically awful



Was it your schedule or was it you?


ODS it was you.  Only against Los Zapatistas schedule would you have a winning record.  

BB- You could have been better but not good. You max out at 7-7 against several schedules.  Only against $$$ would you have been 4-10.

BNE- Right where you should have been, against LZ's schedule you could would have been 8-6.

BG- You suck no matter what.  You would have cratered out at 2-12 with TS and peaked at 5-9 with TC.

BL-  This one is crazy as he was awful vs every schedule but somehow would be 8-6 with IS.

$$$- Is right where we would have been vs most scheduled with a game or two except 10-4 with SMBR and 5-9 with ODS/BL

EBD had a rough schedule although tied with two others they could do no worse than the 9-5 with their own schedule with a max of 11-3 with several schedules.  Playoffs in every scenario.

HC could have been one win worse against a few schedules and peaking at 11-3 with BNE schedule.  Playoffs in every scenario.

IS- would have been crazy unlucky at 7-7 with Bricklayers schedule. Max at 12-2 with EBD.  Which is crazy that IS good weeks lined up with EBD to survive that at 12-2.  Playoffs in 13/14 scenarios.

LZ- 8-6 vs HC schedule, peak at 11-3 vs several.  Playoffs in every scenario.

RM- bottoms out at 5-9 against a few; max out at 10-4 vs LZ.

SMBR- his own schedule was the best at 7-7; bottoms out at 3-11 vs HC.

TC- high point is 10-4 vs IS schedule; 5-9 vs Blue Gatorade

TS- 8-6 with BNE or SMBR 4-10 with BL schedule.

Total Scenarios where you would have made the playoffs

The Perfect Club 100% EBD, HC, LZ

93% IS
57% $$$
50% TC
35% RM
14% TS
7% BL BNE, ODS
0% SMBR, BNE, BB, 


Dollars crushed his playoff predictions getting 5/7 correct:
$$$, EBD, IS, LZ, and TC.  He narrowly missed ODS and than less said about that BL pick the better.


The Playoff Preview


If the goal is winning championships and money, let's look at the history of doing just that in the playoffs.

Hardcore Cabinet:  20 playoff wins, 3 championships, 3 runner's up, 2 third places
The Collegians: 14---2---2---0
Dollars: 13---2----2---1
The Shoes: 12---2----2---1
Eh Big Dude: 8----2---1---0
Italian Stallions: 5---1----1---0
Rush 'n Missiles: 1---0---0---0


The playoffs are here, baby!!



















Tuesday, December 3, 2024

HTPB 23.12

                                                      


The league is packed tightly for the final playoff spots but not at the top or the bottom.  




                                                      Eh Big Dude defeats Hardcore Cabinet


An anthropomorphic tree and a man clutching a trophy ride a roller coaster together.


It was a wild roller coaster of a game with two first round picks leaving with injuries, an offer to bench players for a $50 bet (should have taken that shit), a fourth TD Monday night game, and a partridge in a pear tree. The tight end position which has been a wasteland this season was not in this matchup as 57 points were scored by the position, which would have been enough to beat three teams this season. (BNE, BG, and BL).  Yahoo says that neither of these teams have clinched the playoffs but for them not to, they would have to not set lineups and multiple teams score 180 points from the 7-6 bundle.  So they are in.  

I had Nick make this for me after Roy's Njoku hate.  It doesn't hit as dickishly with the loss but I had to be prepared and still wanted to share it's ridiculousness.  



Rush 'N Missiles defeat Big Nasty Express

A get back coach with a giant wad of tobacco in his mouth ejects a red bearded man from a basketball game.


Rush 'n Missiles was able to sneak ahead by a tenth of a point to get the victory and for the 22nd straight year, eliminate BNE from winning a Super Bowl for a team that he drafted.  The Broncos took a delay of game penalty trying to get the Browns to jump offside before Lutz kicked it through the uprights.  Those extra 0.5 points on the kick were the difference.  The Will Dissly goose egg looms as large for BNE as what Dissly gave two weeks ago, he taketh this week.  RM is currently in the 7th and final playoff spot but only holds a 7 point lead over ODS so RM can still win next week and miss the playoffs. 


Los Zapatistas defeat Bricklayers


The most unlucky man in the world gets run down by a pack of wolves in sombreros.  


The Shoes got the win but things have not been well overall for Los Zapatitstas as they haven't gotten a victory against someone who isn't BG and BL since Oct 21st.  Can they beat a team with a pulse in a important seeding matchup with Dollars? It doesn't really matter because LZ has clinched a playoff berth despite what Yahoo says.   Bricklayers continues to lose and continues to not understand the concept of bad luck in fantasy football.  The lack of good luck does not mean bad luck.  There can be the lack of presence of any luck at all.  Bricklayers complained of getting many defensive touchdowns score on them, but if you take away a touchdown of any kind from every team on his schedule, he would have one additional win. The guy gets his QB to throw a TD pass to himself which would definitely be considered lucky.  So if you gave him both a bonus extra QB TD to himself instead of another human being each week on top of removing a TD from his opponent, Bricklayers would be 4-9 and one of those wins would be by less than a point.  If you put a a bag of cash floating 12 feet above your head and you can't jump up to grab it, it doesn't make you unluckier if you float the bag of cash 20 feet above your head.  You still ain't grabbing that shit.  


Tinker Stinkers defeat the Collegians

A short chef cooks a college graduate in a smoker.

Tinker Stinkers slipped a late night Chubb to the The Collegians and they didn't like it.  The Collegians kept trying to slip a white flag to Tinker Stinkers who repeatedly refused it.   Tinker Stinkers may be peaking at the right time as they scored their high water mark for the season, normally Jason can't touch outside the kiddie pool.  It may be too little too late as TS will need to defeat RM by 80 points to even have a chance to make the playoffs.  Even if that occurs he would have to outscore ODS by 75 in an ODS loss and get a SMBR loss and not get outscored by 35.  So in other words: unlikely.  In fact skynet gives it a 0% likelihood.  The Collegians can't be too confident in their playoff spot as they are in with a win over BNE but with a loss and and wins by RM and ODS, he can miss out if both score more than 60 points than him.  



Italian Stallions defeat Dollars
A Stallion eats from a feed bag filled with Dollars.

The season of dreams continues for the Loins as they have clinched the first round by in the playoffs.  The 151 points scored by IS this week is somehow only their 4th highest total of the season.  The next 2 weeks the Loins will just be trying to stay healthy as they will not play a meaningful game for the next fortnight.  Dollars however will be fighting for his life next week as he can clinch a playoff spot with a win, but with a loss can miss the post season with wins by ODS and RM and they outscore him in the upper 40's.  Not a likely combination but more likely than the 0% skynet gives it.  

Stabmybalzrepeatedly defeats Blue Gatorade

A Magic the Gathering player continues his streak while ending that of a Blue Gatorade.

Blue Gatorade remembered he was awful and scored a whopping 77 points this week to allow SMBR to continue their league high 4 game winning streak.  Only Drake Maye broke double digits and if Drake Maye doubles your next highest score, that is not a recipe for success.    Blue Gatorade's season really ended with the Bricklayers win two weeks ago as they have been playing out the string with nothing on the line now.  SMBR can still make the playoffs in the following scenario: He must defeat EBD and ODS and RM must lose.  There is no other way.  Skynet says this has a 2% chance of happening.


Ogre's Death Squad defeats Bay-Bay's 
Shrek stands victorious over a bloody member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Bay-Bay's rode a 30 point effort right into his usual position, losing.  Kyle Pitts was the pits with a zero point game.   While BB is eliminated from playoff contention (losing 8 of 9 will do that).  Ogre's Death Squad is trying to sneak into the playoffs.  Skynet says he has a 51% chance to make that happen. He lost Mason and Hill for the rest of the fantasy season, can he continue to ride Jayden Daniels a get a promotion to playoff team.  This is a promotion that Dom has already earned and he did it without brown nosing.  That's what Dom and Jerry Harris said at least.  


1. EBD 124-45
2. LZ 123-46
3. IS 120-49
4. HC 118-51

We have a new number 1 by the slimmest of margins.  This four continue to be the cream of the crop in HTPB this season but how what has happened when the cream met each other?

HC is 3-1 (loss to EBD)
IS is 2-2 (both wins vs EBD)
EBD 2-2 (see above)
LZ 1-2 (beat IS)

All of the matchups were high scoring bomb fests.  The champ comes from this group.

5. $$ 89-80
6. TC 86-83

While the big 4 suck up all of the oxygen in the room, this group has been solid.

7. RM 82-87
8. ODS 77-92
9.TS 76-93

Below .500 but alive for the playoffs, nobody will be screwed out of the playoffs as no team with a winning record in the power rankings will be left home from the playoffs.

10. BB 72-97
11. BNE 71-98
12. SMBR 62-107

These are bad teams but schedule luck has given SMBR a hail mary chance at making the playoffs.

13. BL 46-123
14. BG 37-132

These teams are not unlucky just terrible.  



Games with both teams playoff lives on the line

#7 Rush 'n Missiles vs #10 Tinker Stinkers



Seeding vs  playoff lives

#3 Los Zapatistas vs #6 Dollars

#4 Eh Big Dude vs #9 SMBR

Playoff lives vs nothing

#11 Big Nasty Express vs #5 The Collegians
#8 Ogre's Death Squad vs #14 Bricklayers

Seeding vs nothing

#2 Hardcore Cabinet vs #13 Blue Gatorade 

Not fucking reason at all, just for shits and giggles

#1 Italian Stallions vs #12 Bay-Bay's



What will happen?  Who will join the Big 4 in the playoffs, when will IS drop the toilet trophy off at BL?