Cole Tollison

Wisco Wednesday: Post-Realignment Schedule Thoughts

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Oregon and Washington are in the B1G (in 2024). Time to rip up the current schedule plans.

I have some thoughts on future B1G schedules I want to touch on with the new additions to the B1G. I don’t think they are very extreme. But, there is likely to be some disagreement. This is a longer article that is a deep dive into schedule making (and how it’s impossible to please everyone). 

Schedule Demands Post Realignment

With Oregon and Washington being added to the B1G the schedule has to be redone, again. I have a couple of demands for the new schedule. They are all common sense, I think, but they should be said.

  1. Stay at 9 conference games. I fear that if the B1G goes to 10 conference games right now, most teams, including Wisconsin, will try to cancel their future, marquee, non-conference matchups. I do not want Wisconsin canceling their home-and-home series vs Alabama for 2024 and 2025. And, I want the B1G to continue playing big non-conference games in the future.
  2. Keep all 11 rivalries highlighted in the previous model, Flex Protect Plus, and keep Oregon vs Washington. This is likely a given, with one
…

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Tolly Predictions: What to Expect From the SEC West

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Who is winning the West? What will the order of finish be? Who is making a bowl game?

These will be my record predictions for the SEC West. I will list every game for the predictions, but the primary takeaway should be the final record. We will also compare my predictions to the over/under win total for each team to see how the betting public feels about the SEC West.

*Odds listed refer to O/U’s taken from DraftKings at the time of writing

7th – Mississippi State – O/U win total: 6.5

Southeastern Louisiana – W

Arizona – W

LSU – L

At South Carolina – L

Alabama – L

Western Michigan – W

Bye

At Arkansas – L

At Auburn – L

Kentucky (HC) – L

At Texas A&M – L

Southern Miss – W

Ole Miss (Thursday) – W

Mississippi State is not a bad team. BUT, when you play in the SEC West, “not bad” is not good enough. I also think this team is still emotionally recovering from the sudden death of beloved HC Mike Leach. 

Unfortunately for them, I see this as a rough year for MS State. I do have them winning the Egg …

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Tolly Predictions: What to Expect From the SEC East

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Who is winning the East? What will the order of finish be? Who is making a bowl game?

These will be my record predictions for the SEC East. I will list every game for the predictions, but the primary takeaway should be the final record. We will also compare my predictions to the over/under win total for each team to see how the betting public feels about the SEC East.

*Odds listed refer to O/U’s taken from DraftKings at the time of writing

7th – Florida – O/U win total: 5.5

At Utah (Thursday) – L

McNeese – W

Tennessee – L

Charlotte – W

At Kentucky – L

Vanderbilt (HC) – L

At South Carolina – L

Bye

Vs Georgia (Jacksonville) – L

Arkansas – W

At LSU – L

At Missouri – L

Florida State – L

Florida has named Wisconsin washout Graham Mertz as the starting QB. I think they’ve doomed themselves. I am not a believer in Mertz. I think he makes teams worse, not better.

This is a Florida team that went 5-7 last year… with the #4 overall draft pick at QB. Billy Napier will be on the hot seat going into week 5 …

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Tolly Predictions: What to Expect From the Big 12

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Who is winning the Big 12? What will the order of finish be? Who is making a bowl game?

These will be my record predictions for the Big 12. I will list every game for the predictions, but the primary takeaway should be the final record. We will also compare my predictions to the over/under win total for each team to see how the betting public feels about the Big 12.

Predictions for the bottom half of the Big 12 can be found here.

*Odds listed refer to O/U win totals taken from DraftKings at the time of writing

7th – UCF – O/U win total: 6.5

Kent State (Thursday) – W

At Boise State – L

Villanova – W

At Kansas State – L

Baylor – W

At Kansas – L

Bye

At Oklahoma – L

West Virginia (HC) – W

At Cincinnati – W

Oklahoma State – W

At Texas Tech – L

Houston – W

Of the 4 new additions to the Big 12 this year, UCF is expected to handle the transition the best. They are the only one of the 4 to appear in the top half of the standings for my predictions.

From …

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Tolly Predictions: What to Expect From the Big 12 (Bottom Half)

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Who is at the bottom of the Big 12? What will the order of finish be? Who is making a bowl game?

These will be my record predictions for the Big 12. I will list every game for the predictions, but the primary takeaway should be the final record. We will also compare my predictions to the over/under win total for each team to see how the betting public feels about the Big 12.

Predictions for the top half of the Big 12 can be found here.

*Odds listed refer to O/U win totals taken from DraftKings at the time of writing

8th – Baylor – O/U win total: 7.5

Texas State – W

Utah – L

LIU – W

Texas – W

At UCF – L

Texas Tech – L

Bye

At Cincinnati – W

Iowa State (HC) – W

Houston – W

At Kansas State – L

At TCU – L

West Virginia – W

Baylor is good. Other than that, I don’t have much to say. 

As a middle of the Big 12 team, they can beat anyone they play, and they can lose to anyone they play. Picking this schedule is like throwing darts with …

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Tolly Predictions: What to Expect From the ACC

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Who is winning the ACC? What will the order of finish be? Who is making a bowl game?

These will be my record predictions for the ACC. I will list every game for the predictions, but the primary takeaway should be the final record. We will also compare my predictions to the over/under win total for each team to see how the betting public feels about the ACC.

Predictions for Notre Dame and the bottom half of the ACC can be found here.

*Odds listed refer to O/U win totals taken from DraftKings at the time of writing

7th – Wake Forest – O/U win total: 6.5

Elon (Thursday) – W

Vanderbilt – L

At Old Dominion – W

Georgia Tech – W

Bye

At Clemson – L

At Virginia Tech – L

Pittsburg (HC) – L

Florida State – L

At Duke (Thursday) – W

NC State – W

At Notre Dame – L

At Syracuse – W

A very middle of the road ACC team is going to do middle of the road ACC things. Losing their QB to Notre Dame in the transfer portal will cause a step back in 2023.

Vanderbilt isn’t the automatic win Wake …

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Tolly Predictions: What to Expect From the ACC (Bottom half)

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Who is at the bottom of the ACC? What will the order of finish be? Who is making a bowl game? What about Notre Dame (who plays 6 ACC teams)?

These will be my record predictions for the back half of the ACC AND Notre Dame. I will list every game for the predictions, but the primary takeaway should be the final record. We will also compare my predictions to the over/under win total for each team to see how the betting public feels about the ACC.

Predictions for the top half of the ACC can be found here.

Notre Dame is at the bottom because they refuse to join a conference.

*Odds listed refer to O/U win totals taken from DraftKings at the time of writing

8th – Duke – O/U win total: 6.5

Clemson (Monday) – W

Lafayette – W

Northwestern – W

At UConn – W

Notre Dame (HC) – L

Bye

NC State – W

At Florida State – L

At Louisville – L

Wake Forest (Thursday) – L

At North Carolina – L

At Virginia – W

Pittsburg – W

The highlight of this article is Duke. I have them beating Clemson week 1, and …

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Projecting the biggest CFB games of 2023: Week 13

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This is the 13th and final part of a series where I go week by week ranking what I expect to be the biggest games in college football. For a longer description of what this series is, start with part 1 here!

Rivalry Week is full of great games. There are way too many to list in just this article, but I still narrowed down my top 3. I expect conference realignment to raise the emotions for some games this year, and that’s reflected in this week’s list. But it’s rivalry week, almost every game will be worth a watch for one reason or another.

3rd – Oregon State at Oregon

The Civil War.

The 1st meeting was in 1894, and with 129 meetings, it is the 5th most played college football game at the FBS level. The schools are less than 50 miles apart, and the schools are about to be in different conferences. College Football doesn’t make sense anymore.

This Black Friday game will mean the world to everyone in Corvallis, Oregon. It’s possibly their last chance to stick it to the Big-Evil-Nike Ducks for delivering the death blow to their home, the Pac-12. 

Oregon will want revenge …

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Wisco Wednesday: Badger Camp Updates

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How are things going in fall camp? Here are some updates and thoughts on the Badgers as the season approaches.

This will be a shorter Wisco Wednesday piece. Some things have changed since our depth chart analysis pieces, and we need to talk about it. 

Panic! At The TE Room

As far as the Tight End room at Wisconsin is concerned: The sky is falling. Okay, that’s a little dramatic. You may have heard, but in case you haven’t, last year’s TE1, Clay Cundiff, has medically retired from football. I had Cundiff as my projected TE1 going into the season in the Badger Offense Preview. 

But that’s not all. TE2 from last year, Jack Eschenbach, has also not reported for camp. Not much is known, but it’s widely reported that he has left the team.

Projected TE3ish, Jack Pugh, has missed time from fall camp for a personal matter. 

All and all, the Badger TE room has 8 total catches returning from 2022. A lot of unproven guys will need to step it up in 2023. 

CB Reinforcements Have Arrived

In the defense preview I bemoaned the lack of depth in the CB room. Since that piece …

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Projecting the biggest CFB games of 2023: Week 12

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This is Part 12 of a series where I go week by week ranking what I expect to be the biggest games in college football. For a longer description of what this series is, start with part 1 here!

Three Big Ten teams are featured this week, they just aren’t in the Big Ten yet. So that means more Pac-12 love. But the best game is obvious. The SEC matchup featured is not only the best game of week 12, but one of the most anticipated games of 2023. 

3rd – UCLA at USC

So USC just had to play Washington, and then Oregon. What’s their reward for getting through that pair of northwest sledgehammers? They get to play inter-city rival UCLA, who is on an upswing, and also capable of winning the Pac-12.

This soon-to-be Big Ten rivalry is for ownership of LA. It’s too bad most of LA cares more about baseball and basketball than football (pro or college). This is the only game for either team where fans can be certain LA will be a majority of the fans in the stands.

2nd – Washington at Oregon State

This series has become a Pac-12 marketing campaign. But …

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