Paul Prattles On

  Welcome Back! We're a long way from the season starting, and from even talking about next year. In fact, spring practice isn't set to start for at least a month in most places. So I thought it might be fun to give you a fun little trivia quiz. These are tidbits I've discovered in doing research for this summer's team and conference previews, so you'll see all this information presented then. Some questions will be easy, and some will be much more difficult. How many can you get right?  To really do this correctly, I would recommend you having a piece of paper to write your answers on, then you can check them at the bottom of the blog only after you've answered all the questions. Don't cheat! But do let me know your score by leaving a comment, or by replying to my post on either Twitter or Facebook. By the way, all the answers are presented in alphabetical order, so don't try to read anything into that. Let's get to it. Good luck! Questions 1) Most ...

Welcome Back! We are about halfway through a 3-year process of conference realignment. In case you missed my previous blogs, here is what has happened so far, and what is scheduled to happen in the future. Last year, the Sun Belt expanded by adding Marshall and Southern Miss from CUSA, and JMU from the FCS ranks.  This year, the Big 12 expands by adding Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF from the AAC, and BYU from the ranks of the Independents. The AAC will be adding Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA from CUSA, basically gutting that conference. In response, CUSA is adding Liberty and New Mexico State from the Independent ranks, and Jacksonville State and Sam Houston from FCS. Kennesaw State is scheduled to join in 2024. In 2024, the Big Ten is adding USC and UCLA from the Pac 12. In 2025, the SEC is adding Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12, unless an earlier departure can be negotiated. As has been reported elsewhere, an early UT and OU departure from the Big 12 is looki...

Welcome Back! I did it! I watched at least part of all 41 bowl games! But I almost didn't make it, because I was on the road during 99% of the Rose Bowl, and only got to see Utah's last TD (though I did get to listen to it on the radio).  What an exciting bowl season! 2 games were decided in overtime (1 in 3 OTs), and 4 games were decided by 1 point! 23 of the 41 games were decided by single digits, and only 8 were decided by 21 points or more, which means most of the games were competitive from beginning to end. 22 games were within one score! As expected, I wasn't able to maintain my 83% prediction success rate that I had for the 1st week, but I still ended up at a respectable 27-14 for the bowl season, which is 65.9%. If we add that to my season totals, I finish at 629-266, or 70.3%. This just may be my lowest percentage since I was 8 years old, but I hope it's because there is more parity in college football, and the games are just harder to predict. If I get this g...

  Welcome Back! Instead of an Odds and Ends this week I'm doing a Conference Call. With the bowl season coming to a close, I wanted to revisit how each conference did in their out-of-conference (OOC) games. Once again, you'll discover that the SEC is KING ! At least as far as OOC games go. First, let's start with how each conference did in their bowl games (where the SEC was NOT king...). NOTE : I am keeping last week's feature on the future of the conferences at the bottom, in case you missed it, and there are some updates.  Conference Wins Losses Pct Games Remaining MAC 4 2 .667 0 Independents 3 2 .600 0 AAC 4 3 .571 0 Big Ten 5 4 .556 0 ACC 5 4 .556 0 SEC 6 5 .545 1 CUSA 3 3 .500 0 Pac 12 3 4 .429 0 Mountain West 3 4 .429 0 Sun Belt 3 4 .429 0 Big 12 2 6 .250 1 As you can see, the MAC did the best overall, with the Big Ten and ACC tying for best among the Power 5 conferences. However, if Georgia wins the National Championship Game, the SEC record and percentage will...