Repost from Mid-July. Set your clock back tonight.
-Waiting on this Utah game to finish so I can post the rankings. The winner is going to be ranked 18th and the loser will be unranked.
While we wait, enjoy this repost and update.
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The little things mean more in November. The calendar year in its waning stages. Clocks are forced backwards one hour. Self-reflections are in-store. Beware–An unhealthy amount of reflection on the past year may lead to regret. Regret coupled with the newly shortened days may make for an unhappy time.
Mid-July can sometimes be a similar time of reflection. The relaxing vacation nights on beach condo balconies or out in cool mountain cabins allow life to slow down enough to reflect on the first half of the year and perhaps plan for the second half. There will be equal parts smiles and regrets. Like the West Texas barren lands or the College Football season–life gives and takes. But it don’t give much.
-Some calm evening, sitting on a cushioned wicker chair, staring at the distant flickers far out on the inky horizon, the oceans wave’s rhythmically caressing the brown sugar shoreline, the one you love most by your side.
-A spooky still night on a dim lit wraparound cabin porch amongst towering ancient Evergreens, listening to owls’ hoot and Katydid’s swoon, the one you love most by your side–life finally levels and it’s still enough to reflect.
The alpine pond reflects the grandeur of the mountain’s peaks, the gentle Gulf reflects the moon’s glow, both images from the past; self-reflection is exactly that–the past.
There is no need to linger long when looking back, but like any self-respecting Cold War Submarine Captain would do–take a peek toward the baffles once in a while.
So, let’s reflect prospectively into what the college football landscape could look like on the morning of November 2, 2025 assuming that “Predicting the Unpredictable” is one hundred percent correct.
I’m neither on a beach condo balcony nor a cool remote cabin wraparound porch.
This Tiki Shore blue love seat in my air-conditioned drop-down den with the fuzzy snoring the day away will suit me just fine.
Just another dose of sports to curb the workday boredom. Dreaming of the upcoming College Football season once again…
A glimpse ahead to November 2, 2025, to see which teams may be smiling in the mirror when the clocks fall back one hour and which teams show wrinkles of regret.
Week 10 Nov. 1 Recap:
- West Virginia win @ Houston
- Iowa St hands Arizona St first loss (8-1)
- 7-1 Vols win, drop Sooners to 7-2
- Ohio St and Penn St both 7-1 after Buckeye’s home win over the Nittany Lions
- Buffalo 8-1 after win over Bowling Green. Over 7.5 Season wins
- Georgia improves to 6-2 with a win over Florida
- Texas to 7-2 after beating Vandy
- 6-2 Alabama, 7-1 LSU, 7-1 Oregon, 7-1 UCLA, 7-1 Washington on a BYE
- Kentucky 6-2 after winning at 5-4 Auburn
- Arkansas 7-2 after beating Miss St
- 4-5 Vandy loses @ Texas (7-2)
- Michigan 7-2 after beating 5-4 Purdue
- Illinois 5-4 after beating Rutgers
- Indiana 6-3 after win at Maryland
- USC drops to 6-2 after 1 point loss @ Nebraska (5-4)
- Air Force 7-1 after beating Army
- Memphis 8-1 after winning Halloween night @ Rice
- Texas Tech drops to 4-5 after loss @ 7-1 Kansas St
- Pitt 8-1, Wins @ Stanford
- Clemson 7-1 after easy Duke Win
- SMU drops to 7-2 after loss to 6-2 Miami
- Louisville 6-2, Wins @ VA Tech
- Notre Dame improves to 6-2 with win over Boston College
–It’s at this point that the repost is paused and this is live chatter. 10:26PM on November 1st. On the same couch in the same den. As you can see, some things were picked right, and some things were wrong. Nature of the beast. We can’t reflect for too long.
Back to the repost. These were fan bases that were supposed to wake up happy on November 2nd morning.
“Happy Fan Bases”
TOP 25+1 11/2/25
- Pitt 8-1
- Memphis 8-1
- LSU 8-1
- UCLA 7-1
- Buffalo 8-1
- Air Force 7-1
- Washington 7-1
- Ohio St 7-1
- Tennessee 7-1
- Kansas St 7-1
- West Virginia 7-2
- Clemson 7-1
- Oregon 7-1
- Penn St 7-1
- Michigan 7-2
- Arizona St 8-1
- Arkansas 7-2
- Kentucky 6-2
- Notre Dame 6-2
- Alabama 6-2
- Georgia 6-2
- Miami 6-2
- Oklahoma 7-2
- Louisville 6-2
- Texas 7-2
- +1 SMU 7-2
Congratualtions to the Pitt Panthers! Number 1! Now, whatever you do–don’t read the rest of your preview in “Predicting the Unpredictable.”
Winning games is a helpful but not necessary ingredient to fanbase happiness.
Perhaps given the expectation, a 5-4 Purdue fan is happier than a 6-2 Georgia fan. So, let’s retitle the list (that does not matter in any way shape or form) to this: “Happy Fan Bases with a Playoff Chance.”
Prospective reflections glimpse ahead. Present reflections reveal the past. Present moments unveil truth. The past is etched in stone.
Reflections can be a fun glimpse back into the past. Take in the present with the one you love most. That’s the stuff that lasts.
It was 5 Saturdays from Dublin when I wrote this. Now we are five weeks from the playoffs being revealed. Time is tricky.
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Actual Happiest Fan Bases Should Be:
- Indiana
- BYU
- Texas A&M
- Virginia
- Memphis
- Ohio St
- Mississippi
- North Texas
- Mississippi St
- A much-improved team
- Pittsburgh
- Northwestern
- Blowing preseason projections out of the water
- Texas Tech
- Iowa
- USC
- Oregon
- Kennesaw St
- Massive improvement over last season
- San Diego St
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- James Madison
- Winner of Utah/ Cincinnati
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia Tech
- That loss will sting, but what an effort by Haynes King
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It’s late in the third quarter and Utah has the lead. Come on Utes. Put them away.
Oh yeah, and the Dodgers won the World Series. 5-4 in extra innings. Well done Dodger Blue. The American Pastime Game Champion deserves to be won by an American Team. I’ll take the team that plays in Chavez Ravine.
Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’
Whit W.