College football isn't and will never be the NFL -- and thank the Gridiron Gods for that. Amateurs -- even if they're the best fraction-of-a-percent of amateurs -- still are not professionals. College football is played, primarily, by 18-to-23-year-olds who are more prone to mistakes than their professional counterparts. It's for this reason a Saturday…
Week 3 is the last of this college football that falls before...well, fall. Autumn equinox is next Friday, which means we're just about fully settled into football season. The beginning of autumn coincides with the start of conference play, and for many teams around the nation, Week 3 is either the final or penultimate weekend…
The one Group of Five conference that received the most attention since the inception of the College Football Playoff was the American Athletic Conference (AAC). In 2015, the AAC had a surprising season that resulted in Houston making it to the Peach Bowl on the Group of Five auto-bid. The Cougars stunned Florida State. Because…
The inception of the College Football Playoff gave programs from non-power conferences new incentive with the introduction of an automatic bid into one of the prestigious New Year's Six bowl games. The Group of Five conferences have several worthy challengers for a New Year's Six bid, but it's likely only one will land in one…
If you have ever heard one of my radio appearances or follow me on Twitter (@kensing45!), you might know my affinity for a specific Ric Flair quote: "To be The Man, you gotta beat The Man." Well, two months into his new job as head coach at Virginia Tech, Justin Fuente feels very much like…
Thursday nights take on a much different vibe in adulthood than in those four(-plus) magical years of college. It's really no surprise, then, that Thursday night football takes on a much more fun aura when played by college kids, and the version involving pros is often a joyless slog. On college campuses nationwide, Thursday marks…
Big 12 expansion took an unexpected turn for the entertaining Wednesday thanks to Justin Timberlake. Yes, THAT Justin Timberlake. Nevermind the involvement of FedEx or any elaborate Power Point presentations, J-Timb's Twitter endorsement of Memphis for Big 12 inclusion certainly tips the scales in the Tigers' favor from my humble perspective. Memphis to the @Big12Conference...…
CFB Huddle's American Athletic Preview Week turns focus outside the AAC and to the ACC, Big 12, Mountain West, MAC. From these conferences come opponents in some of the AAC's most promising non-league dates. Nonconference play contributed to the positive perception of the American a year ago: Houston's defeats of Louisville and Vanderbilt, Memphis routing…
Teams from around the American Athletic Conference last season adopted #AmericanRising, a Twitter hashtag that perfectly described the state of the league's football in 2015. Commissioner Mike Aresco's declaration at AAC Media Days in August that the league was striving to make the Power Five the Power Six essentially called the American's shot. American teams…
Big 12 expansion may not be inevitable -- the University of Texas reportedly has issues, and it's well established that the Longhorns wield more clout than much of the conference. Nevertheless, as the din of conference realignment grows, and nonsensical arguments contingent on seemingly arbitrary percentages gain traction, the possibility of Big 12 expansion has…
College football coaches have never been under greater pressure to win more, and win sooner, than ever before. Last decade, the grace period for building a winning program was roughly four-to-six years, depending on the situation a head coach inherited. That's enough time for a recruiting cycle to play out, from signing day to Senior…
College football 2015 is in its stretch run, with just three full weeks remaining. The College Football Playoff picture isn't quite yet taking an actual shape. As last week's upheaval proved, fluidity defines the current state, and one Saturday can throw everything we think we know into flux. Saturday's lineup presents the possibility of more…
Week 10 features arguably the best, top-to-bottom slate of any one college football Saturday yet this season, with College Football Playoff preliminary Top 4 showdown Alabama-LSU headlining. Not that the nighttime tussle in Tuscaloosa needed any additional stakes. LSU controls its destiny in the SEC West, while Alabama has been surging since losing to Ole…
Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds's pursuit of individual history coincides with one of the biggest moments in recent team history. Saturday, Reynolds leads the Midshipmen into the Liberty Bowl to face Memphis, the nation's 15th-ranked team and current pace-setter for the Group of Five New Year's Six bowl bid. If he scores a rushing touchdown, as…
Trevone Boykin's play for TCU might drop your jaw, raise your eyebrows, quicken your heart-rate. If you're West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, all you can do is just give the quarterback props. For the first time in several weeks, LSU running back Leonard Fournette is not in command of the CFB Huddle Heisman Top…
