The Hybrid is a weekly Big Ten football preview, plus relevant or whimsy games from the national slate
Not once in my life have I ever given a fuck about those dumbass mid-season CFP committee rankings.
But look at this fucking shit.
THE CFB PLAYOFF TOP 25 pic.twitter.com/w7CyOIOQR8
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 2, 2021
It's everything I hate about the "rooting for trickle down economics" yearly adventure that is college football.
The CFP committee does not exist to create the most deserving playoff
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) November 2, 2021
They exist to create the best product for advertisers and TV execs
Once they admit that these rankings wont be so controversial
uggggggggggggh
Alabama is the only team in college football whose losses dont count. They just dont count.
— Jason Kersey (@jasonkersey) November 2, 2021
UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH
the CFP excluding non-power teams from the Playoff hasn't just made the playoff race less interestingit further incentivizes any good non-power teams to leave their conferences, entrenching the Power 5 as untouchable and slowly draining the life from non-power leagues
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) November 2, 2021
Tric-kle down, tric-kle down!
"Nothing can possibly redee--"
Dont let the dumb ass CFP rankings distract you from the fact that we still have a stripper named Pole Assassin and her killer monkey on the loose in the college football world rn.
— Kayce Smith (@KayceSmith) November 3, 2021
Hahaha.
The Hybrid
"Every writer either quits drinking or dies from it."
Tuesday
N/A
Wednesday
Northern Illinois at Kent State: Using this solely to scratch the Justin Fields itch.
Justin Fields was the 4th QB off the board pic.twitter.com/mfKhkfAZus
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 31, 2021
Thursday
N/A
Friday Night Lights
Neuqua Valley (3-seed) at Palatine (19-seed): The boys played their most complete game of the year last week, thrashing 30-seed Bartlett 60-7 in the first round of the playoffs. Here is our RB effortlessly shedding wet defenders:
Jaden McGee (@JadenMcgee17) scores the games first TD. pic.twitter.com/FnMcnYcJHU
— Neuqua Valley Football (@NVHS_Football) October 30, 2021
He, uh, likes the rain.
Palatine has no common opponents with us, and though they are at home, two of their three losses this year were by double digits, so here's to hoping that signals vulnerability.
Saturday
Army at Air Force: Sorry to double dip on Neuqua Valley, but Jon Rhattigan (the Army/Neuqua LB we talked about earlier this season) is leading the NFL in special teams solo tackles.
Congrats to program alum Jon Rhattigan, the current NFL special teams solo tackles leader for the Seattle @Seahawks. pic.twitter.com/hq6WfLSUme
— Neuqua Valley Football (@NVHS_Football) November 1, 2021
Really hopin' he can stick. He's backing up Bobby Wagner for now.
Missouri at Georgia (1): No. Bad.
Ohio State (5) at Nebraska: Ugh, no. Funny. Bad.
Wake Forest (9) at North Carolina: 'eyyy, Top 10 Wake. Very cool. Yes.
Illinois at Minnesota: Reeeeally shoulda saved Fields for this section.
Tulsa at Cincinnati (6): From No. 2 to No. 6, because the SEC just wants to watch their championship game twice.
Michigan State (3) at Purdue: Ohhh, you will fall. You will fall fall fall.
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) October 31, 2021
Navy at Notre Dame (10): The one positive of the new rankings: Notre Dame dropping from No. 8 to No. 10. Eat that stray, Irish.
Penn State at Maryland: People seem to think PSU played tOSU alright. So... sure, whatever.
Wisconsin (21) at Rutgers: Enjoying the semi-rise of Wisconsin way more than I should be. This is to say I am still not at all enjoying it, but there aren't the tidal waves of hate like usual.
LSU at Alabama (2): So consistently annoyed when LSU blows up every five years or so and ruins what should regularly be a really cool and fun game.
...but more annoyed at this god damn No. 2 ranking next to these stupids. Why even play a season? Why do anything? When does basketball start?
Iowa (19) at Northwestern: Fun times last week!
Can someone remind me what a first down is? I forget.
— Mel D. (@mleighd86) October 30, 2021
Gonna go do yard work. Fuck this.
— KalamaPat (@pattrekker) October 30, 2021
A few days ago me @alex_kirshner and @JFergusonAU were asked whether Georgia would beat Iowa in a game where Georgia got no offensive possessions. We said yeah with no hesitation. Now I wonder what the spread would be
— Jason Kirk (@thejasonkirk) October 30, 2021
I've rooted for a lot of college football teams who've lost a lot of games, but there is something really special about the ones who put up absolute duds on offense. It's Chicago Bears-ian in the way it deflates the common fan. Like, if you were able to hold the anger and pain consistently in your head, you'd maybe tap out for the rest of the season. Then a week goes by, and you're like "Eh, let's see if we made some improvements!"
Friend, there will be no improvements*. I hate this game. I hate this team. If we lose, I will sigh. If we win, I'll be mad.
The fans and culture, on the other hand?
I think @xrayanneiowa drank all of these. pic.twitter.com/1hWXp6EiTD
— Hawk Stalker (@SugarTroll) October 30, 2021
(* - in all seriousness, if there is a positive path forward, it hinges on how good Wisconsin's defense really is)
Washington State: Wazzu is off this week, but it really needs to be said they kicked the shit out of Arizona State (34-21). ASU got one in garbage time to make the score look better, but as a two TD dog on the road with a winless head coach... this one felt sweet.
Its so impressive how Jayden is about to throw the ball, but pulls it back. He and Jackson read the safety cheating forward at the same time, wideout breaks and its now an easy throw for the QB. The beauty of the Run and Shoot when its clicking. pic.twitter.com/j9IyPB90yj
— Craig (@TheCraigPowers) October 31, 2021
Real sweet.
Jake Dickert gets his first win as head coach AND an ice bath. pic.twitter.com/W4WfBSJGN4
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) October 30, 2021
I mean, not sweet enough to cheer me up from the Iowa/Michigan horror outcomes, but... kinda-semi-somewhat sweet.
Oregon (7) at Washington: Go wreck, Ducks.
Indiana at Michigan (9): Only upside to blowing a double digit second half lead to Michigan State is it takes a lot of pressure going into The Game off the table. The 1% happiness Michigan scenario is if MSU loses to tOSU but then loses The Game and it creates some weird tiebreaker scenario... that Ohio State will surely come out of favorably.
Ugh, I hate everything.
hate
The Jag Bag
Checking in...
Onside kick return TD! @travishomer4 #Seahawks
— NFL (@NFL) October 31, 2021
: #JAXvsSEA on CBS
: NFL app pic.twitter.com/0biDcX8giN
...checking out.
Wrapping It Up...
Trying to have a normal conversation at work tonight pic.twitter.com/IH20v1OmUa
— World Champion Jon (@BigJon865) November 2, 2021
Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy or email to bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.
