By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
It’s the Christmas season. And the RJB is using all of these forthcoming Mondays to break out some of its favorites. Sure, you’ve heard them years prior. But we’ve all heard Christmas Carols years prior, and we don’t tire of them. We just enjoy them.
The RJB will start off with one of its favorites from the Trans-Siiberian Orchestra. It’s just a great holiday jam. No further explanation of Wizards in Winter. Of course, you can’t do it without the house Christmas lights in sync with the music.
Oh, and here’s an amusing Christmas Ad from Acura with the Great Gordon Ramsay.
*****
We’re going to have plenty of time in December to perform the autopsy on the 2022 football season.
Of course, we know this season fell well short of expectations. Quarterback turned it over far too much. Offensive line was bad early, played pretty well in the second half and then just got beat by Texas. Defensive line was probably the most disappointing part of this team.
It’s rare to see a unit that was so good one year be so average the next with just about everybody back. The short answer is either these guys peaked in 2021 or got scouted so well in the offseason and the week leading up to games, that teams knew how to beat them.
I get it that people want to beat up on Blake Shapen. It’s hard not to for a guy who wins the starting quarterback job out of camp, and you believe the offense could perform even better in 2022. It didn’t come close.
For me, it’s the defensive line. That 11-play all rushing drive Texas had in the fourth quarter Friday to take the lead crystalized that group for 2022. When it had to do something, it couldn’t.
More to come throughout the coming weeks.
*****
As for the bowl projections, it you want to travel with the Bears after Christmas, you’re probably looking at Phoenix or Memphis. If it’s Phoenix, it will be Baylor’s second trip out there (it was there in 2016 when it beat Boise State). Projections have them playing Wisconsin.
If it’s the Liberty, then the Bears are facing someone like Arkansas, Florida or Missouri. Typically, 6-6 teams are going to face 6-6 teams. You want to create matchups where things aren’t imbalanced.
Let’s face it, 6-6 teams deserve to face each other. They all kind of speak the same language. They were good in some areas and inconsistent in others.
There’s also a little pressure involved because you don’t want to end the season with a losing record. It should matter.
Well, it should matter all the time when you put on the pads and helmet and get between the white lines. If you’re not wanting to be out there, it’s going to show up.
Look at it this way, Baylor is going to be in a bowl for the fourth time in the last six seasons and 11 out of the last 13. Obviously, the bowl system is watered down to the point where you can’t keep up with the games unless your team is playing in one.
*****
Now to the College Football Playoffs. You’re probably torn by TCU. The archrival is on the verge of playing in this blessed event.
The Horned Frogs would be the only other team other than Oklahoma to ever represent the Big 12. Good for the Big 12 but you’re going to have to suck it up if it’s the Horned Frogs.
Or perhaps you really don’t care if the Big 12 is represented in the playoff and you want Kansas State to pull off the upset. Actually, I think the Wildcats can. In that first meeting with TCU in Fort Worth, they jumped out to a 28-10 lead and then ran out of gas.
There’s no way Georgia isn’t going even if it gets upset by LSU – nice flat tire at Texas A&M – in the anti-climactic SEC championship game.
Michigan isn’t losing to Purdue in the Big 10 Championship game unless the Boilermakers play beyond their skis and the Wolverines don’t come down from the win at Ohio State. That wasn’t the case last year when Michigan drilled Iowa after it beat the Buckeyes.
USC likely will jump into the fourth spot when the new ranking are released on Tuesday. All the Trojans would have to do is beat Utah in the PAC 12 championship game Friday in Las Vegas. But keep in mind the Utes are the only ones to beat the Trojans this season.
Ohio State would need a lot of help. The Buckeyes don’t have any good wins other than Notre Dame. And dare I say 2-loss Alabama – a team that lost its two games on the final play – could be hanging around to see what happens. That’s unlikely but stranger things have happened.
Clemson, Oregon and Tennessee are toast. TCU is the most vulnerable of the teams playing this weekend.
*****
The coaching carousel got moving quickly over the weekend. Former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule takes his act to Nebraska. Arizona State hired its new coach in Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham.
In a move that hurts the Big 12 is Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell moving on to take over at Wisconsin. Here’s why I think it’s telling for this league.
First, Fickell, who just had his Bearcats play in the college football playoff last year, might believe his window is closing for a program that is moving up to the P5 world. Cincinnati joins the Big 12 July 1, 2023.
Second, Wisconsin is a better job than Cincinnati. It’s the No. 1 school in that state while Cincinnati is in Ohio State’s shadow. The new TV rights deal the Big 10 has will bring far more dollars and increase the resources than the Big 12’s new rights deal.
Third, Fickell, who was an assistant at Ohio State, will eventually want the Ohio State job if it ever becomes available should Ryan Day falter. What better way to prove it than to win in the Big 10 and win enough to where Ohio State would be willing to move on him.
Now, the pressure is on Cincinnati to make a shrewd hire to try and sustain what Fickell built.
There’s nothing open in the Big 12 yet. You have Neal Brown twisting in the wind at West Virginia with everything that’s going on there.
As a flyer, I wonder if Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State is considering how much further he wants to go at his alma mater and maybe try something else. This season really collapsed at the end to a 7-5 finish. If you were him, maybe you see how the carousel turns to see what you might want to do.
He’s had these dalliances with Tennessee and Arkansas but stayed in Stillwater. I will admit to you that I’m throwing something against the wall to see if it sticks.
Let’s make it a great week!
Publisher
It’s the Christmas season. And the RJB is using all of these forthcoming Mondays to break out some of its favorites. Sure, you’ve heard them years prior. But we’ve all heard Christmas Carols years prior, and we don’t tire of them. We just enjoy them.
The RJB will start off with one of its favorites from the Trans-Siiberian Orchestra. It’s just a great holiday jam. No further explanation of Wizards in Winter. Of course, you can’t do it without the house Christmas lights in sync with the music.
Oh, and here’s an amusing Christmas Ad from Acura with the Great Gordon Ramsay.
*****
We’re going to have plenty of time in December to perform the autopsy on the 2022 football season.
Of course, we know this season fell well short of expectations. Quarterback turned it over far too much. Offensive line was bad early, played pretty well in the second half and then just got beat by Texas. Defensive line was probably the most disappointing part of this team.
It’s rare to see a unit that was so good one year be so average the next with just about everybody back. The short answer is either these guys peaked in 2021 or got scouted so well in the offseason and the week leading up to games, that teams knew how to beat them.
I get it that people want to beat up on Blake Shapen. It’s hard not to for a guy who wins the starting quarterback job out of camp, and you believe the offense could perform even better in 2022. It didn’t come close.
For me, it’s the defensive line. That 11-play all rushing drive Texas had in the fourth quarter Friday to take the lead crystalized that group for 2022. When it had to do something, it couldn’t.
More to come throughout the coming weeks.
*****
As for the bowl projections, it you want to travel with the Bears after Christmas, you’re probably looking at Phoenix or Memphis. If it’s Phoenix, it will be Baylor’s second trip out there (it was there in 2016 when it beat Boise State). Projections have them playing Wisconsin.
If it’s the Liberty, then the Bears are facing someone like Arkansas, Florida or Missouri. Typically, 6-6 teams are going to face 6-6 teams. You want to create matchups where things aren’t imbalanced.
Let’s face it, 6-6 teams deserve to face each other. They all kind of speak the same language. They were good in some areas and inconsistent in others.
There’s also a little pressure involved because you don’t want to end the season with a losing record. It should matter.
Well, it should matter all the time when you put on the pads and helmet and get between the white lines. If you’re not wanting to be out there, it’s going to show up.
Look at it this way, Baylor is going to be in a bowl for the fourth time in the last six seasons and 11 out of the last 13. Obviously, the bowl system is watered down to the point where you can’t keep up with the games unless your team is playing in one.
*****
Now to the College Football Playoffs. You’re probably torn by TCU. The archrival is on the verge of playing in this blessed event.
The Horned Frogs would be the only other team other than Oklahoma to ever represent the Big 12. Good for the Big 12 but you’re going to have to suck it up if it’s the Horned Frogs.
Or perhaps you really don’t care if the Big 12 is represented in the playoff and you want Kansas State to pull off the upset. Actually, I think the Wildcats can. In that first meeting with TCU in Fort Worth, they jumped out to a 28-10 lead and then ran out of gas.
There’s no way Georgia isn’t going even if it gets upset by LSU – nice flat tire at Texas A&M – in the anti-climactic SEC championship game.
Michigan isn’t losing to Purdue in the Big 10 Championship game unless the Boilermakers play beyond their skis and the Wolverines don’t come down from the win at Ohio State. That wasn’t the case last year when Michigan drilled Iowa after it beat the Buckeyes.
USC likely will jump into the fourth spot when the new ranking are released on Tuesday. All the Trojans would have to do is beat Utah in the PAC 12 championship game Friday in Las Vegas. But keep in mind the Utes are the only ones to beat the Trojans this season.
Ohio State would need a lot of help. The Buckeyes don’t have any good wins other than Notre Dame. And dare I say 2-loss Alabama – a team that lost its two games on the final play – could be hanging around to see what happens. That’s unlikely but stranger things have happened.
Clemson, Oregon and Tennessee are toast. TCU is the most vulnerable of the teams playing this weekend.
*****
The coaching carousel got moving quickly over the weekend. Former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule takes his act to Nebraska. Arizona State hired its new coach in Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham.
In a move that hurts the Big 12 is Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell moving on to take over at Wisconsin. Here’s why I think it’s telling for this league.
First, Fickell, who just had his Bearcats play in the college football playoff last year, might believe his window is closing for a program that is moving up to the P5 world. Cincinnati joins the Big 12 July 1, 2023.
Second, Wisconsin is a better job than Cincinnati. It’s the No. 1 school in that state while Cincinnati is in Ohio State’s shadow. The new TV rights deal the Big 10 has will bring far more dollars and increase the resources than the Big 12’s new rights deal.
Third, Fickell, who was an assistant at Ohio State, will eventually want the Ohio State job if it ever becomes available should Ryan Day falter. What better way to prove it than to win in the Big 10 and win enough to where Ohio State would be willing to move on him.
Now, the pressure is on Cincinnati to make a shrewd hire to try and sustain what Fickell built.
There’s nothing open in the Big 12 yet. You have Neal Brown twisting in the wind at West Virginia with everything that’s going on there.
As a flyer, I wonder if Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State is considering how much further he wants to go at his alma mater and maybe try something else. This season really collapsed at the end to a 7-5 finish. If you were him, maybe you see how the carousel turns to see what you might want to do.
He’s had these dalliances with Tennessee and Arkansas but stayed in Stillwater. I will admit to you that I’m throwing something against the wall to see if it sticks.
Let’s make it a great week!
