2022 CFB What If:
In a similar vein of Marvel's "What If" series (that I haven't watched) I started wondering about which games/results could throw the 2022 season into chaos.
What If:
SD St beats Iowa? Ha!
Texas beats Bama? Texas is BACK!
ND runs over Ohio State? Not a total meltdown in Columbus, but frustration with Ryan Day grows
Oregon beats Georgia? Might not matter, Georgia could still win the SEC and would make the playoffs
Miami beats TAMU? Miami loves Cristobal! Miami loves Gattis! A&M overrated?
FSU beats LSU? FSU is back talk goes crazy. LSU fans meltdown over Brian Kelly
Nebraska beats OU? Could it be enough to save Frost another year? Beginning of OU downfall?
ND beats Clemson? If ND beats OSU early, this win over Clemson would likely cement them in the playoff.
Michigan beats OSU? Ryan Day is firmly on the hot seat, especially if they lack toughness again.
What games do you think could change major narratives this year?
August 19th, 2022 at 9:51 AM ^
If titts were nuts, my aunt would be my uncle
August 19th, 2022 at 10:46 AM ^
Then she'd have nuts on her chest....would you call them chestnuts?
August 19th, 2022 at 9:51 AM ^
What if we went 3 days without someones' new OPINION thread on the season, NIL, or realignment?
August 19th, 2022 at 10:14 AM ^
THAT would be a major change in the narrative.
August 19th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
I'm so hungry for any football content right now that i'd be sad
August 19th, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
Agreed. How dare board members lack the self-control to refrain from discussing their opinions on the upcoming football season on the message board. Don't they realize how difficult it is for the rest of us to simply ignore posts we're not interested in?
August 19th, 2022 at 9:53 AM ^
What if... OSU fires Ryan Day and then Fickell turns down the job?
Freeman was probably next in line, but I doubt he'd leave ND now. I'm sure plenty of coaches would take the job, but after going CFP, CFP, Rose Bowl win, 10-2... consistently recruiting in the top 3... and getting fired for it. That's be a pretty bad situation to walk into (while having 10+ 5*s on the roster lol)
August 19th, 2022 at 11:19 AM ^
Day will go to the NFL before being fired.
August 19th, 2022 at 12:18 PM ^
Welcome back, Urban.
August 19th, 2022 at 12:40 PM ^
What force of nature would possibly stop Luke Fickell from taking the job? I mean, sure, if they were making a Billy Madison II, but I haven't heard about anything like that. If Day leaves Fickell comes. That's all there is to it. Only ND might have held Fickell.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
IF Michigan beats OSU in ColuXbus this year:
August 19th, 2022 at 10:48 AM ^
Here's the deal. Urban Meyer has won EVERYWHERE he has gone - BG, Utah (undefeated), Florida (2 Rings) and OSU. Even Saban can't say that. The odds of any other coach replacing either guy to the level that they coached extremely slim. If Ryan Day can't make the college playoff or beat Michigan this year with the talent on that team, he is 100% on the hot seat. The reality is the odds are against him living up to his predecessor.
August 19th, 2022 at 12:09 PM ^
Everywhere if you exclude Jacksonville ...
August 19th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
My what if is what if UM beat MSU last year and everything else was the same. Would they have made Georgia #4 to avoid a rematch with Alabama and place them against michigan? Or would they keep 3 and 4 the same. I bet Georgia would have been #4.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:12 AM ^
I think they would've avoided a rematch at all costs.
But if OK State wins...would they have made it over Cincinnati?
Would Jim Knowles leave a playoff team?
August 19th, 2022 at 10:49 AM ^
would have been very close between Cinci and Ok State but I think Cinci would have still gotten in. And even if Ok St made it, Knowles 100% would have still left a team that's about to be in a mid-major conference to go to OSU.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:52 AM ^
Hard disagree. OK State with it's only loss by 3 points to Iowa State gets in over Cinci, imho.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:23 AM ^
I'm not convinced they would have dropped Alabama out of the rankings.
The committee would then have found a way to avoid an SEC rematch so they potentially (likely?) meet in the championship. That would not have changed.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
I agree, I'm sure we would have gotten screwed. What really pissed me off was UGA shitting the bed against Bama in the SEC Championship. If they take care of business, Bama is out, and we play either Cinci or ND in the semis, either of whom we should have beaten. So we get another win out of it, and although it probably wouldn't have changed the overall outcome, UGA would have had just a week and a half to prepare for us instead of a month, which couldn't have hurt (although to be honest, they probably would have been more focused on us anyway...).
August 19th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
if my grandmother had handles she'd a been a wheelbarrow.
seriously though, if ND beats ohio (highly unlikely), there will be a very serious and immediate drum beat for day's head.
August 19th, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
Poor Grandma!
August 19th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
If SD State beats Iowa I am feeling much better about my trip to Kinnick!
August 19th, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
NDSU beat Iowa, at Kinnick, the same year Iowa beat us in 2016. Doesn’t matter that NDSU is the Alabama of the FCS, they are still FCS. A team like Iowa should still be able to beat them without any real issues.
Iowa always seems to play to its competition at home. Which means that no matter what happens against SDSU, Michigan had better be ready for a dogfight when it comes to Iowa City.
August 19th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
Keep an eye on ND. The big IF; they beat Ohio Sate and then later beat Clemson, watch out. That would be 2 of the Top 4 preseason teams losing to the Fighting Irish. That would be huge.
Michigan winning in C-Bus would really put Ryan Day in the hot seat, especially if they lose to ND early in the season.
August 19th, 2022 at 11:04 AM ^
Okay. Its a slow work day. I'll bite:
SD St beats Iowa? It won't make me fear playing at Kinnick any less. Iowa routinely craps the bed against lesser opponents and then shows up and beats Michigan or OSU the same year. Pretty sure they lost to NDSU (yes, I know they're an FCS powerhouse but they're still FCS) the same year they beat Michigan in 2016.
Texas beats Bama? Its not going to happen, but if it did, I'd actually be kind of happy about it, because I think it would directly impact OSU's ability to continue raiding Texas for top talent. A lot more top kids in that state would want to stay home and play for UT. Otherwise, I don't care that much if it happens.
ND runs over Ohio State? OSU drops OOC games, especially ones at home, it seems like every other year. OSU fans would be mad for sure, but I think they're used to early season losses
Oregon beats Georgia? It will go to show just how generational last year's defense really was if they take that much of a drop-off. Oregon has talent, but they shouldn't have enough talent to make a cross-country trip under a first year head coach, with a transfer QB who wasn't that good at his previous stop anyway, and knock off the defending champions in their own backyard.
Miami beats TAMU? Can't tell me there wouldn't be folks in College Station calling for Jimbo Fisher's head. You have all the money in the world and can buy whatever talent you need, but if you can't beat a first year head coach that has a very mediocre roster, at home, you may not be long for your job.
FSU beats LSU? ESPN will run a weeklong segment of nothing but "THE NOLES ARE BACK, BABY!" FSU will enter Week 2 ranked, they'll be the talk of tinseltown, and then they'll go up to Louisville, lose, and the wheels proceed to come off from there.
Nebraska beats OU? Scott Frost is immediately safe for another year. Winning that game gets him right back in the good graces of the fanbase overnight. I'd also have to ask just how far Oklahoma regressed by hiring Venables.
ND beats Clemson? At that point then I'd start wondering if Clemson's best days under Dabo are truly behind it. ND will probably be good this year, but I don't think they should be that good.
Michigan beats OSU? Day will not get fired. The OSU brass would be absolute fools to do that. He has multiple CFP appearances, multiple conference titles, an NFL-caliber roster and recruits head and shoulders above everyone else in the league. They'd have almost nothing to gain by firing him and everything to lose. But some of his position coaches and coordinators might get the axe. He will, however, enter 2023 with a slightly warm seat. Also, half the state of Ohio would commit hara kiri at roughly 3:30pm EST that Saturday.
August 19th, 2022 at 12:21 PM ^
I think your read on Day is right. That said, another way to look at his conference titles and CFP appearances - he won with Urban's guys the first year and in a weird COVID year the second year, and the first two years he was on his own he was outcoached by others.
I think they'd be in a situation where they'd wonder if they can do better, and if anyone would come given the short leash, a la where we were at in 2020 with Harbaugh. He's an ELITE recruiter and so you know he'll get back to the CFP at some point, but you'd just have to wonder how and when and if Matt Campbell of the month could do it better and faster
August 19th, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
FSU beats LSU? FSU is back talk goes crazy. LSU fans meltdown over Brian Kelly
Is LSU supposed to be good? The thread a couple days ago about betting CFB win totals had them at 7 (and FSU at 6.5). I guess your comment is probably accurate--I remember the overreactions when we beat ND in 2009 and 2010--but to me this feels like a tossup between two mediocre teams, not an earth-shattering what-if...
August 19th, 2022 at 12:39 PM ^
What if… players who don’t “get” what they expected in NIL deals refuse to play.
And, if the temperature for the regular season finale is between 42 and 27 degrees, will the home team refuse to take the field?
August 19th, 2022 at 3:01 PM ^
My dream every year is for the entirety of the ACC Coastal to finish 4-4 in conference. There have been mid/late-Novembers in the past 10 years where such a result is still in play, but Duke falling off lately isn't helping