Independents are that random relic of a bygone period of college football history that continues to linger on. Three decades ago independents dominated the college football world, with teams like Miami and Penn State and Notre Dame all putting together championship seasons in the 1980s without affiliating with a conference. Then...
#8 Notre Dame v. #7 Ohio State
University of Phoenix Stadium -- Glendale, AZ
January 1, 2016 -- 1:00 pm Eastern (ESPN)
Why You Should Watch
The Fiesta Bowl blossomed quickly from a guaranteed venue for WAC champions to play in a bowl game into one of the preeminent postseason contests in the...
I missed out on much of the Madness that transpired in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, sequestered from the world of sports by school finals and my sister's wedding. Blissful ignorance, though, makes this set of Sweet 16 contests no less compelling.
Five ACC schools made it to the second weekend of the tourney. The Pac-12...
The pinnacle of success for any football team is to win a national championship. But, for the 667 football teams that participate at the NCAA levels of the sport, there are just four national championships to go around.
For the rest of the hundreds of schools that don't go on to claim the ultimate prize in their...
Notre Dame v. #23 LSU
LP Field -- Nashville, TN
December 30, 2014 -- 3:00 pm Eastern (ESPN)
Why You Should Watch
You get to see a rematch of the 2007 Sugar Bowl, and it's always fun to watch two teams that have prior bowl history squaring off once again. This is also a contest between...
For two weeks in September, Texas A&M led the country in adjusted margin of victory. The Aggies fell from the top once October rolled around, losing three consecutive games against Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Alabama. That opened the door for the Rebels to leap to the top of the FBS Top 128 last week, only to fall back in...
Earlier this season we discussed whether an undefeated BYU team might be able to break into the College Football Playoff field. The Cougars, due largely to the broken leg suffered by otherworldly quarterback Taysom Hill, have plummeted down the rankings with three straight losses following a 4-0 start. But there is another mid-major...
The past couple of weeks have helped delineate the SEC West pecking order, as the two Mississippi schools have supplanted the two Alabama schools as the class of the division. What the past fortnight has not done, however, is create much separation in the adjusted margin of victory for each of these teams. As a result, the logjam of...
A weekend of chaos unprecedented in the annals of college football has everyone around the country rethinking common perceptions about the 2014 season. As a result, the picture for the the four-team field has become a bit fuzzier as we ponder what might happen in the second half of the inaugural College Football Playoff...
With a full round-robin schedule and lacking a conference championship game, the margin of error for the 10 teams in the Big 12 is slim this season. Three of the league's teams -- Oklahoma, Baylor, and TCU -- remain undefeated at this point in the season. And while all three are capable of both lighting up the scoreboard, the trio...
