Cole Tollison

Will Upsets Strike on a Quiet Week? – Week 3 Preview

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Week 2 delivered some chart topping hits. Week 3 is more so the deep cuts. 

A lot of casuals will watch their team play this weekend, or nothing at all. There is no Texas – Bama, FSU – LSU, or Colorado – any decent team to get first billing this week. Many fans are looking ahead to the absolute monster that is week 4. There are a lot of good games in week 4, but we’ll get there when we get there. I had some games I thought would be the best in week 3 before the season started. But I’ll leave it up to you if I was on the mark or not. There are some things to talk about in week 3, they are just deeper cuts for a more diehard fan. For me the week mostly revolves around renewed rivalries and possible upsets. Let’s get into it. 

Upset Watch 

With the games being a little lackluster this weekend, let’s flip the script on our format. I will be watching the Wisconsin – Georgia Southern game. Outside of that, I’ll check scores on my phone during the day to see if any upsets are brewing. When things start …

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Wisco Wednesday: How Will The Badgers Respond?

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I told them to run the ball, but they just wouldn’t listen. 

Last weekend was not a fun time to be a Badger fan. All that offseason excitement and optimism came crashing down as Wisconsin lost its 1st real game of the year. All due respect to Buffalo, but a lot of Madison viewed that as more of a preseason contest. There are more issues to clean up than fans were expecting. And I don’t think people realize, Washington State is just a good football team. You can’t make mistakes and beat a good football team. 

Looking Back: Slow starts and turnovers. A losing formula.

Wisconsin 22
Washington State 31

The stat sheet says Wisconsin won, but the score doesn’t.

Wisconsin had:

  • More Passing Yards
  • More Rushing Yards
  • More Yards Per Play
  • More Plays
  • More 1st downs
  • Half as many punts
  • Half as many penalties

BUT

They lost the turnover battle 3-0.

So regardless of all the other mistakes made, like not running in the first half, and not giving the ball to Braelon enough, the game was decided by turnovers. It’s plain and simple: don’t turn the ball over.

Bad 1st Half

The slow start was concerning. Wisconsin had …

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Doubt Saban at Your Own Peril – CFB Week 2 Recap

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Pac-12 Supremacy, SEC slump, B1G check-in, and Tolly’s Top 25.

Who is the best conference? A common, fun debate among college football fans that has consistently ended with the SEC on top for the last 15 years. Sometimes the B1G has an argument, but they have generally played second fiddle to the teams down south. 2023 is being weird though. The Pac-12 is on an absolute tear, and the SEC’s elite can’t get out of their own way. Minus Clemson, the ACC has a solid argument for 2nd place. Yes, Georgia is still Georgia, but after that – college football has gone a bit off the rails. 

The Pac-12 is the Best Conference – For Now

The top 8 in the Pac-12:

Washington – 2-0
They absolutely destroyed Boise State. The Huskies might have the best defense in the Pac.

Oregon – 2-0
The Ducks scored 81 in week 1 and beat a Big 12 contender on the road in week 2.

USC – 3-0
The offense looks unstoppable. They have 2 special teams TDs in 3 games.

Utah – 2-0
They have two P5 wins with their 3rd string QB.

Colorado – 2-0 
Deion has two P5 wins including …

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Deion Round 2? SEC Bounce Back? – WOF Week 2 Preview

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Last week, most of the favorites won. It’s time for things to get crazy in Week 2.

Well, I was pleasantly whelmed for most of the week 1 action. But there were definitely some upsets that kept things interesting. Deion gets first billing, but Duke wasn’t far behind. And don’t forget Florida State who announced their return to college football’s high rent district with that primetime thumping of LSU. 

Week 2 sets up nicely for some sequels to the week 1 lineup. But on top of that, there are just way more interesting P5 vs. P5 matchups. Colorado doesn’t get a moment to recoup, facing historic rival Nebraska in the Deion home opener. The Big 12 has an opportunity to shine with some ranked matchups. The B1G plays 14 non-con games. The ACC is semi-underwhelming, but they have some good games too. 

Then there’s obviously the elephant in the room. The most anticipated non-con game of the year is this week. The question: who wins in a fight? A longhorn or an elephant?

SEC – Are you OK?

The SEC had 3 big games in week 1

  • Florida at Utah – Florida lost big
  • South Carolina vs. North Carolina –
…

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Wisco Wednesday: I Have Concerns

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Everything is different, yet nothing has changed. Run the damn ball.

Wisco Wednesday will have a consistent format for most of the season. I’ll start by looking back at what Wisconsin did the previous week. We might also touch on some other games that are of interest to Badger fans. Then, I’ll look ahead to the upcoming matchup of the week. That’s the plan; let’s see how it goes.

Looking Back: Where was the Air Raid?

Wisconsin 38
Buffalo 17

I think some lists are in order, to sum up what should’ve been an uneventful beatdown of a lesser team.

The bad:

  1. Wisconsin had 3 total pass attempts with over 15 air yards. The forward pass is an abomination.
  2. The 2 Mordecai INTs led to 7 Buffalo points (it should’ve been 10, Buffalo missed a 34 yard field goal after pick #1)
  3. Mordecai went 24/31 for 189 yards. That’s a paltry 6.1 YPA.
  4. Wisconsin had 0 sacks, 0 INT’s, and 0 Forced Fumbles.
  5. Wisconsin had 3 TFLs, Buffalo had 5. This wasn’t a good showing for our OL.
  6. Skyler Bell (WR) dropped the only long ball of the day. It would’ve been a 60 yard TD. 
  7. Jordan Turner (ILB) was
…

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Tolly’s Top 25 – Week 1

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My ballot for the AP Top 25 – If they let me have one.

It’s been a while, but I’m back now. Labor Day was a holiday for me too. I have a lot to say about some of the week one games. I’ll touch on some of them here, and I’ll address others later this week.

If the AP Top 25 let me have a ballot, this is how mine would look. It’s a ranking, not a power rating. We finally have some games to go off of now. The games this past week will heavily influence my top 25. Not all wins are created equal, and this list should change drastically over the course of the first few weeks as we all find out who’s actually good and who we just thought was good.

I’ll explain my picks in groups of 5 from 25 to 1. Then, at the bottom, I have a list of 1-40. I went 40 deep to show what my personal “others receiving votes” section would look like.

25-21

25 – Wisconsin
24 – Clemson
23 – TCU
22 – Texas A&M
21 – Oregon State

Wisconsin looked rough in their opener vs. Buffalo. …

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Wisco Wednesday: Week 1 Preview

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Big Fick debuts vs. the Buffalo Bulls in Mad Town. The start of an era.

Not nearly as intimidating as the Bills, the Bulls are a middle of the road team in the Mid-American Conference that also resides in Buffalo, NY. There is a lot of interest in the new offense that Fickell is bringing to Madison. The Bulls should be a nice tune up/pseudo preseason game for the Badgers to work out the kinks of new offensive and defensive schemes.

  • Odds listed were taken from FanDuel at the time of writing.

Game Preview: Buffalo at (19) Wisconsin

Spread: 

Wisconsin -27.5

Over/Under:

54.5

Location:

Camp Randall – Madison, Wisconsin

Kickoff Time:

Saturday – 2:30 PM CT

TV Network:

FS1

Who are the Buffalo Bulls?

2022 Season:

  • Buffalo went 7-6 in 2022
  • They beat Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl to end the season.
  • They went 5-3 in the MAC East, taking 2nd in the division.
  • 66th in scoring defense, giving up 26.7 pts per game.
  • 64th in scoring offense, scoring 28.5 pts per game

The defense and offensive rankings can be a bit inflated because they played poor competition for most of the season. They threw the ball a bit …

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CFB is Back Baby – Week 1 Preview

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No one knows anything. Everything is possible. It must be week 1.

There’s not much more to say than that, right? We think we know who’s good. But every year top 10 teams finish unranked, and a few unranked teams make their way into the top 15. (Or the all the way to the title game – see 2022 TCU)

Ignoring week 0 for a second. Week 1 is the only week where you look at all 133 teams and can say: Half of you are about to have a losing record. And the other half gets to start 1-0. The math isn’t that perfect though, there are too many games against FCS teams.

Unfortunately, most week 1 games are unwatchable. Tune up games, cupcakes, preseason, etc. Call it whatever you want. There are a lot of 20+ point favorites that will steamroll lesser teams by the middle of the 2nd quarter.

But there are some games I am looking forward to, and others I will keep an eye on if they get interesting. Week 1 spans 5 days, so this will be a little on the long side for a preview piece. 

  • Odds listed refer to spreads taken from
…

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Tolly Predictions: Playoffs? We talking Playoffs?

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Who is making the 2023 CFP? Why I think I just might know.

College football is about Saturdays, it’s about rivalries, it’s a sport where the regular season matters more than the postseason… for now. That said, many of us are still looking forward to the CFP to watch the best teams duke it out on the gridiron in their quest for a natty. And to be fair, I think if you want to call your shot on who’s going to win it all, you should do it before the season starts.

(I’m a little late, I know week 0 already happened. But, I got all of my regular season predictions done before that. So give me a break.)

What I’ve Predicted So Far:

ACC:

My full ACC predictions are here.

ACC Championship Game: Florida State vs. Louisville

ACC Champion: Florida State

Notable Records:

Florida State (11-2) – ACC Champ

Louisville (9-4) – ACC Runner-Up

Clemson (10-2)

Notre Dame (9-3)*

North Carolina (9-3)

*join a conference jerks

Pac-12:

My full Pac-12 predictions are here.

Pac-12 Championship Game: Washington vs. Oregon State

Pac-12 Champion: Washington

Notable Records:

Washington (12-1) – Pac-12 Champ

Oregon State (10-3) – Pac-12 Runner-Up

USC (10-2) 

Oregon …

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Week 0 Just Happened

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What the heck was that? Why was there football yesterday? Isn’t week 1 next weekend?

Week 0 is an honored college football tradition dating all the way back to *checks Wikipedia* 2017 or 1983? Like everything involving the NCAA, there are a multitude of complex rules, rule changes, and weird decisions. To play a week 0 game, the game must be approved by the NCAA; that’s the main thing to keep in mind. There were a bunch of week 0 games in 2002. None were played from 2005 to 2015. And 2017, the current set of rules for week 0 was put in place. Since 2017 we’ve consistently had multiple Week 0 games (ignoring 2020 for obvious reasons).

(If you’re trying to win a bar bet, the actual 1st Week 0 game was in 1983 when #1 Nebraska beat #4 Penn State at Giants Stadium in New Jersey)*

Who Would Even Want to Play in Week 0?

Everyone.

Every team would gladly play a week 0 game given the opportunity. 

It gets the kids back for fall camp 1 week sooner, so coaches get more practices.

It adds another weekend of TV inventory for networks and conferences. (i.e. more …

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