
The Morning Commute for Wednesday, December 18th
Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about … playoffs? Playoffs? You wanna talk about playoffs?
Well I do. It’s time! Friday begins the newest experiment in college football – the 12-team playoff for Division I/FBS schools. Indiana takes on Notre Dame in South Bend Friday evening, followed by three more first-round games on Saturday to get things jump started.
The winners advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played at bowl sites, followed by a round of semi-finals, then the championship game to be settled Jan. 20th in Atlanta, Ga.
I picked Georgia to win the natty prior to the start of the season. I’m not so confident about that prediction anymore, even though the Bulldogs go into the tournament with the #2 overall seed. With their starting QB Carson Beck questionable health-wise, I think their chances are waning, but we’ll see.
As for this first weekend, with the four games being played on campus sites, I don’t foresee any upsets taking place – which probably means we’ll see utter chaos across the board. Every home team is at least a touchdown favorite, and I feel like Tennessee has the best chance of pulling an upset as a seven-point dog at Ohio State. I’d like to see that one happen to boost the status of the SEC.
What say you? Take a look below and cast your vote who you think will come away with the trophy in this historic first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff!
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
- It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but the Mizzou hoops team posted an 83-72 win Tuesday evening over Jacksonville State, and Rock M’s Adeen Rao was there to cover the action. Adeen also had the preview leading up to the game…
The Missouri Tigers (10-1) rallied behind hot three-point shooting and tightening of their defenses in the second half to an 83-72 victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (6-5).
Not shocking to see Mizzou have a bit of a letdown in what was a trap game before the big showdown with rival Illinois. Let’s hope this one serves as a wake-up call.
- The Tiger men’s hoops team is on the verge of cracking the top-25 with the Braggin’ Rights Game looming, as Sammy Stava covered in yesterday’s Morning Commute…
It will be another Quad 1 non-conference opportunity before league play. Of course, rankings don’t necessarily matter in December, but it would be nice for Mizzou to have a number next to their name heading into that SEC gauntlet.
It’s really hard to fathom how quickly Dennis Gates could conduct a turnaround so profound following the disaster we all saw unfold a year ago.
- Nate Edwards evaluates one of Mizzou’s latest gets in the football transfer portal – safety Santana Banner from Northern Illinois – who is nicknamed “Beans,” of all things…
According to PFF he didn’t allow a touchdown on any pass that was thrown around the guy he was assigned to defend. At an alleged 6’3” 202 he’s a slightly taller version of Joseph Charleston and, given that he’s probably taking his spot, that makes sense.
Secondary is a position group in need of much talent so it was nice seeing this early get by Tiger coaches – here’s hoping some more Christmas presents come wrapped in a bow.
- Does the playing rotation by Dennis Gates sometimes seem unorthodox? Matthew Harris takes a look at that very question with his latest piece…
Gates hasn’t zeroed in on a handful of trusted lineups. In fact, his most-used quintet didn’t share the floor until it started the game against KU. Meanwhile, his second-most-used group only played 4.8 percent of the minutes in this campaign.
Are the substitution patterns hard to understand at times? Yes. Does it matter a hill of beans as long as the Tigers are winning? Hill no!
- It’s poll time: SBN Reacts – What are your feelings about portal action so far?…
Mizzou has been one of the most active teams in the country (per usual) in the transfer portal, signing four players in the first week of the window’s opening. More is yet to be done, though, especially in the face of a few significant departures.
The portal giveth and it taketh away, but your vote counts forever!
- Over at Rock M+, we’re talking about football transfer portal madness and on the hoops side, DataMizzou offered his insanely early look at bracketology…
DataMizzou said this: “Assuming they (Mizzou) go 11-2 in the non con, you can basically lock them in if they go .500 (in the SEC). Go 12-1? 8-10 probably gets it done to be honest.
Is it early to be talking about the NCAA Tournament? Yes, yes it is. Does it beat portal nonsense? Why yes, yes it does!
Rock M Radio: The Verdict breaks down the big win over ku
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