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Almost no one in college football punches its weight as well as Western Kentucky
And now we get to see how well this system translates to Purdue.Western Kentucky headed into Tuesday's Boca Raton Bowl ranked 14th in S&P+ for the season; the Hilltoppers were 11th in 2015. As Jeff...
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College football expectations vs. reality: What did I get right and wrong in...
Here’s one way of looking at how teams achieved relative to what was expected.In today’s media landscape (sports and non-sports), self-reflection is unnecessary. You don’t really need to step back and...
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BYU wraps Year 6 by beating a rival in the rain. So, how’s independence going?
Checking in on the Cougars’ big picture after they held off a Wyoming rally in a weirdly rainy San Diego, 24-21.On Dec. 21, 2015, San Diego had a high of 57 degrees with no precipitation and almost no...
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Idaho’s FBS parting gifts include the happiest bowl of potatoes in the world
Idaho beat Colorado State in a 61-50 Potato Bowl shootout to end the Vandals’ second-to-last season before they go FCS.Colorado State kicked off the Potato Bowl with hopes of sealing a resilient 2016...
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PODCAST AIN’T PLAYED NOBODY: You don’t adopt a team, it adopts you
It’s a holiday edition of PAPN!Allow us to kill an hour of your holiday drive with the exact kind of topical content you expect from PAPN.Topics:Idaho, FBS death, and a garbage time redefinitionYou...
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If you want to win exactly 9 games a year in Conference USA, employ Skip Holtz
In Friday’s bowls, Holtz’s LA Tech beat No. 25 Navy, while missed opportunities and bad bounces doomed two MAC teams.Nine wins per year for Skip Holtz, like clockwork.On Wednesday, I wrote that no one...
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Hawaii’s best season since 2010 began with the schedule from hell
The Rainbow Warriors defended their home turf in their bowl game, completing one of the year’s biggest turnarounds.From 2012-15, Hawaii went 11-39, averaging not even three wins per season.In 2016,...
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Why each team in the 2016 College Football Playoff will and won’t win the...
Here’s a quick look at how Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Washington match up with each other best (and worst).It’s still three and a half weeks before the College Football Playoff kicks off, but...
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College football’s hottest teams include 2 in the Playoff and 1 each in the...
These full rankings for different parts of the season show who entered bowl season the warmest and who slumped into December.The whole college football season matters. That’s what we tell ourselves. A...
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4th-and-goal from the 1 in the 1st quarter? Go for it. Every single time.
Monday’s mediocre bowl schedule produced three interesting games, with the St. Pete providing a lesson for all coaches.I use advanced stats whenever possible, but I’m not a zealot. I understand that...
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College football teams tend to improve in a new coach’s second year. But not...
Is there a window for a new coach to make an early impact?Last week, I took a look at how my S&P+ preseason projections performed. In all, they were pretty solid as far as projections go, but there...
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College football gets even less predictable during bowl season. Tuesday was...
For some of these games, the Vegas spreads might as well have been random numbers between one and 20.32% of bowls decided far away from the spreadWe all understand that bowl season is a bit more...
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Are boring coach hires why SEC football’s nothing special right now?
The conference might still be the best, but it’s only about half as good as it was just a few years ago.FPeak SEC occurred in late-October 2014.When the College Football Playoff committee unveiled its...
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2016 college football coach hire grades: (Almost) all 18 look pretty good for...
You can see clear reasoning for almost all of these hires, and some are as close to slam dunks as can be, but nothing in college football is guaranteed.This year's FBS coaching hires had a common...
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IT’S THE PAPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SPECTACULAR
Also: Let’s talk about the Noles!Look at us, being relevant this week! LET’S TALK PLAYOFF.Topics:Why the CFP is ruining college football.Clemson's definitely going to beat Ohio State.Ohio State's...
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Miami was really good for most of 2016, not just the bowl. Here come...
At least, if Brad Kaaya comes back. Here’s something to know from each of Wednesday’s bowls.Miami gained two-thirds of its yards in four drives (and that was more than enough)Miami began the Russell...
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What to watch for if you’re really, really hoping Washington upsets Alabama
Chris Petersen long ago earned the reputation of a master underdog. Here’s how his Huskies might slay college football’s ultimate giant.Alabama is probably going to beat Washington in Saturday’s Peach...
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2016 Arkansas was good at second-half collapses. The Belk Bowl: its masterpiece
The Hogs turned a 24-point lead into an 11-point loss, and four more things to know from Thursday’s bowl games.Arkansas was plus-87 points in the first half this year and minus-100 in the second.We...
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Here’s why Ohio State vs. Clemson is gonna be such a great Fiesta Bowl
Each team has only a couple of small advantages over the other.The two 2016 College Football Playoff semifinals feature two completely different narratives.The Peach Bowl is easy enough to understand....
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Why each team in the 2016 College Football Playoff will and won’t win the...
Here’s a quick look at how Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Washington match up with each other best (and worst).Alabama has a 44.8 percent chance of winning the national title, per S&P+...
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