I Tell Ya' Herbie:
We mentioned the heat on James Franklin at Penn State after their road loss to a twenty-point-plus underdog UCLA last week.
Little did we know that the Nittany Lions were about to drop another game as a similar favorite at home to Northwestern!
And that game spelled the end of James Franklin at Penn State, and another coach mentioned here as sitting on the hot seat gets the axe at mid-season.
I Tell Ya' Herbie:
The top name on the list to replace Franklin was Indiana's Curt Cignetti, who led his Hoosiers to a huge win over the Oregon Ducks in Eugene last week.
The Pittsburgh native signed an eight-year contract extension worth an average of over eight million per season to remain in Indiana, and takes Cignetti off the table for the Nittany Lions.
The top rumored name now appears to be Nebraska's Matt Rhule, but two other names to watch for- Iowa State's Matt Campbell may decide that this is his "Pete Gillen" moment and finally take a job before schools quit asking and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, who is 5-1 with the Commodores which is only slightly easier that doing that with Lionel Richie and his Commodores.
A possible issue with Lea that he can't control?
He's from Vanderbilt, which sent Penn State's last head coach, a fellow named James Franklin.
I Tell Ya' Herbie:
I missed last week (as noted above), and as a result, I didn't mention the hot seat that Billy Napier sat on at Florida.
Florida fired Napier after a 23-21 win over Mississippi State that reportedly included several questionable decisions by Napier.
Florida improved to 3-4 (2-2 SEC) after the win, but Napier had coached his last game as Gator boss.
I Tell Ya' Herbie:
The Big 12 took a major shot when Arizona State upset unbeaten Texas Tech on a late-game score.
The loss may have delivered a major blow to the league's hopes of receiving two playoff slots.
In this bloated conference era, Tech could run the table, finish at 11-1, and not qualify for the Big 12 title game as both BYU and Cincinnati are unbeaten in the conference.
Tech does play BYU later this season, but Cincinnati doesn't play Tech or BYU, and when you could have multi-team tiebreakers, the leagues best team (the Tech-BYU winner or Cincinnati) might be on the outside looking in.
I Tell Ya' Herbie:
I still think that the Group of Five bid will go to the champion of the American with three unbeaten teams in the league (Navy, South Florida, and Tulane) and five with six wins overall (unbeaten Navy and South Florida, Tulane, Memphis, and North Texas with one loss) but if anyone can take advantage of these teams beating each other up and have their champion finish with two defeates, it could be James Madison of the Sun Belt.
JMU led Old Dominion by one (28-27) at halftime and then hammered the Monarchs in the second half with a thirty-five point assault in 63-27 win.
The Dukes only defeat is a forgivable 28-14 at Louisville in a game that was tied after three quarters and if they win out along with some help in the American race, it could be James Madison in the playoff.
I Tell Ya' Herbie:
One of my favorite ruvalries that doesn't receive a lot of national attention will take place for the final time as a conference game as Colorado State meets Wyoming for the Bronze Boot.
The 3-4 Cowboys will host the 2-5 Rams, who fired head coach Jay Norvell this week, in Laramie.
Wyoming will remain in the Mountain West, while Colorado State is leaving after the season for the revitalized Pacific 12.
The schools have been in the same conference since 1968 (WAC and Mountain West) and will play next year in the season opener before skipping 2027.
The series will resume in 2028 and there is an agreement to continue through 2036.
It is possible the teams could meet in 2027, if scheduling adjustments can be arranged.
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