By Tim Clark / / Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

With the end of the nail biting Army-Navy game, the college football regular season came to an end. Saturday night the Heisman was awarded and no doubt Sherrone Moore texted another OnlyFans model. Thanks to Moore’s stupidity, the coaching carousel remains open for a little while longer. Speaking of stupid, we are now announcing players who are re-signing with the school they are already at. At least the playoffs commence on Friday night.

Seems like a good time to clean up some loose ends.

In other words, a little this, a little that, and predictions on the other thing.

This

The regular season was meh. We were not treated to a lot of good games due to the gigantic conferences and imbalanced schedules. This made it extremely difficult to evaluate teams. Who was an excellent team? Who was good, but not great? Who was average? Who knows? Hopefully we will be treated to some good games over the next month.

For the same reasons, it was difficult to determine who the best players were. Remember all of those veteran quarterbacks who were going to light it up and litter the top half of this year’s NFL Draft? Yea, me neither. Instead we got some new names rise to the top. Sort of.

None of the Heisman candidates were knock out choices.

Fernando Mendoza transferred to Indiana from California, where he was basically in witness protection. He was a leader who benefitted greatly from being on a really good team. The schedule wasn’t brutal and the numbers were okay, but not great. Two moments vaulted Mendoza to the top of the list. The last minute drive to win the Penn State game and beating fellow Heisman candidate Julian Sayin and Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Sayin put up some big numbers against inferior competition. In the Buckeyes big games the offense seemed to lean towards conservatism, limiting Sayin’s numbers. The loss to Mendoza and Indiana was probably the difference for Sayin.

Diego Pavia was the most dynamic player on this list. Pavia fell just shy of 4,000 total yards, using his legs far more than the other two quarterbacks. Pavia was also the player most important to his team’s success. I mean it is Vanderbilt we are talking about. Pavia had bigger numbers and the most impact on his team’s record. Turns out, however, that Pavia is a gigantic D-bag.

 


Many of the Heisman voters are not enamored with that type of behavior. Pavia was the size of a 14 year old and acted like one, too.

Jeremiyah Love was the best player in the country, in my opinion. Love had six 100 yard games, including 228 yards against the sieve that was the USC rush defense. Love suffered more from an easy schedule than any other candidate. Love got more than 20 carries in only three games, as expected three of the four toughest games(Texas A&M, USC, Pitt) on the schedule.

The voters chose the nicest kid. In a year where nobody was a clear cut favorite, I am perfectly okay with the vote. It was a weak year for the Heisman.

That

Stupidity.

Unfortunately I have spent the past two weeks talking about stupid aspects of college football. Stupidity never seems to go away.

I give you Sherrone Moore. Moore was never going to last at Michigan because he can’t coach. He was kind enough to hasten his demise by doing his thinking below belt level. When men allow this to happen, bad outcomes almost always follow. Turns out the married father of three did a lot of below the belt thinking. An affair with a subordinate he apparently thought would accept her termination quietly. Door Dashing her the morning after pill. And all the while making advances on OnlyFans models.

The best part about this saga was that he broke into the young lady’s house, grabbed some butter knives, and threatened to kill himself. Butter knives. Just amazing. This guy takes stupid to new levels.

Also, someone tell Michigan to do two things. First, drop the Michigan Man thing. It is a punchline at this point. Second, quit thinking this is such a great job. Sherrone Moore had two average years. Even Jim Harbaugh had quite a few average to above average years before cheating his way to the top. Before that Brady Hoke, Rich Rodriguez, and Gary Moeller were ridiculously average. Lloyd Carr did win a national title, but other than that year it was a lot of 3 and 4 loss seasons. That is 35 years of mostly average to above average performances. I am tired of hearing what a great job it is.

Finally, here is where we are on the stupidity meter. Because of the transfer portal, schools are now announcing the re-signing of returning players as if they are new commits. Here is an example from USC.

 

Insanity.

Are you old enough to remember the days when you just assumed players would be back. And if they weren’t coming back there would be a little blurb put out by the school about a transfer.

College football really has become inundated with stupidity.

The Other Thing

The playoff games get underway this weekend. I won’t bore you with my usual rant on how stupid this system is, or at least the set up of the system.

This is just going to be about who wins this thing, and if you follow my podcasts you are aware of what a heater I am on with my picks(sarcasm implied). Anyway, here is how I think this thing plays out.

Round One
  • Oregon over James Madison: This could become a controlled scrimmage. It will also show new UCLA coach Bob Chesney what he will be up against in the Big Ten.
  • Ole Miss over Tulane: It could be closer than you think if the Ole Miss players and outgoing coaches don’t gel. Or maybe the Ole Miss players decide to shove it in Lane Kiffin’s face.
  • Miami over Texas A&M: Miami is one of the two most talented rosters in the playoffs. Miami also has an imbecile for a coach. I think talent wins over a team that hasn’t had to play many good teams.
  • Alabama over Oklahoma: This is more what I think about Oklahoma’s warts than Alabama’s strengths. Both teams are mediocre, so this could go either way. As long as Alabama doesn’t turn it over like last time they played the Tide should win.
Quarterfinals
  • (Cotton Bowl)Ohio State over Miami: Simple, Ryan Day over Mario Cristobal.
  • (Orange Bowl)Texas Tech over Oregon: The little known Red Raiders should love playing the role of underdog. They are very good, and I have felt all season that Oregon is a tad overrated.
  • (Rose Bowl)Indiana over Alabama: Not something I ever thought I may type out. Indiana is simply better as a team than Alabama.
  • (Sugar Bowl)Georgia over Ole Miss: This was a close one in the regular season that Ole Miss just ran out of gas late. I just think with everything swirling with the coaches, Georgia will have a leg up. Oh, and they are better.
Semifinals 
  •  (Fiesta Bowl)Ohio State over Georgia: This was a tough choice. Georgia has alternatingly looked great then average. Ohio State has been fairly conservative with their young quarterback in big games. I feel like the Buckeyes and Ryan Day will open it up and challenge Georgia’s defense like they haven’t been challenged this year. Ohio State in a close one.
  • (Peach Bowl)Texas Tech over Indiana: I am going with the underdog in this one. What a world we live in, if we have Texas Tech and Indiana battling in a semifinal playoff game. This will be a defensive struggle.
Championship Game
  • Ohio State over Texas Tech: I have felt like Ohio State is the best team in the country since week one. I am not about to abandon that ship. Texas Tech would be such a great story, and that defense will be able to hang with the Buckeyes. The plain truth of the matter is the Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football.

It has been a rocky road college football has followed in 2025. As the calendar changes to 2026, let’s hope that the worst is behind us and the powers that be will figure out the problems and get us back on track with the great sport we all love.

Tweet of the Week

Lindsey Vonn is 41 years old. She retired from skiing for five years, got brand new knees, and decided to return to competition. Over the weekend she won the downhill event, her first victory in seven years. Good on Vonn for teaching us all a lesson in perseverance.

 


The Weekly Shiny Penny

Rob Reiner was brutally murdered Sunday along with his wife. Reiner was a big, big baseball fan. His biggest contributions, of course, were non-sports related. He made some of the best movies and plenty I enjoyed immensely: When Harry Met Sally, This is Spinal Tap, Misery, Stand By Me, and one of my all time favorites A Few Good Men.

I, however, am old enough to remember him as Michael Stivik, aka Meathead, on the legendary comedy All in the Family. I like to think Carrol O’Connor and Reiner are catching up on some of their memorable moments somewhere up there. Here is a classic.

 

 


A Penny For My Final Thought…

Well, here we go again.

Mike Tomlin is rallying the troops. He always does.

With the Monday night beatdown of the deadbeat Dolphins, the Steelers have 8 wins. One more victory will secure Tomlin that his winning record streak continues. And the Browns are on the docket in two weeks.

Yippee.

Whether the Steelers end with 8, 9, or 10 wins doesn’t really matter. It is semantics. They just miss the playoffs. They make the playoffs and have someone come to Pittsburgh and beat their brakes off. The bottom line is the Steelers will continue residence in the mushy middle of the NFL. They will once again draft somewhere in the vicinity of 20.

Yippee.

It really is an unbelievable cycle. The Steelers have not come close to beating good teams. They lost to Seattle, Buffalo, Green Bay, and the Chargers by double figures. They lost a close one to the Bears. The Steelers did beat the Patriots, but only after a gazillion turnovers.

In other words, Pittsburgh wins the games they should and rarely beats the good teams. Just good enough to finish above .500, and if that gets you into the playoffs great. But it isn’t great, because the Steelers get smoked year in year out in the playoffs.

Yippee.

The worst part of this is that Mike Tomlin was getting to a spot where he may have agreed to part ways. That would be the best thing for both him and the team. Now, he will most likely wish to come back and see if he can keep that mushy middle record going.

It will be a lose-lose-keep.

Lose in the playoffs, if they make it.

Lose a top draft pick and continue to pick low enough to avoid star quarterbacks.

Keep their average coach and his well below average staff.

More time spent without a legitimate quarterback and losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Yippee.

Just my two cents…