Introducing the Middle Two | Bossman’s Blog

Middle Two? Central Two? In-Between Two?

Whatever you want to call them, the Big XII and ACC are kind of caught in the middle. Definitely not part of the Group of Five but realistically (at least in football), they are quite a bit below the Big Ten and SEC (whether you like to admit it or not). So comes the Middle Two (Intermediate Two? Center Two?). The goals of these two conferences: get more than one team into the College Football Playoff. They know that there is a very good chance that both conference champions will get a bye so to get another team into the first round would be huge and would give them a much better chance to win the whole thing (which would piss off Big Ten and SEC fans…which would be funny not gonna lie).

Ree-Ah-Line-Mint. Ugh, no matter how you put it, it still feels….kind of dirty. And boy, have the Big XII been knee-deep in the whole realignment mess. Now they didn’t start all this. And Colorado absolutely wanted to move back to the conference after USC and UCLA made their move to the Big Ten. But still…

Now, as far as I know, the Big XII has the rights to the Big XVI name and I believe it’s almost time to just do it…unless….brace yourselves….MORE REALIGNMENT! My god will it ever end? The latest rumours have Florida State and Clemson, who are angry at the ACC (kinda, sorta), wanting to move out of the ACC apartment complex. It looks like the Big Ten is definitely out and the SEC might not be that interested. That leaves only one conference left so don’t be surprised if the Noles and Tigers (along with maybe two of Duke, UNC, Virginia, Louisville, Miami or NC State) heading to the Big Midwest (honestly not a bad new name for this conference even with the east coast schools.

OK let’s just get to the heart of this post: the Big XII predictions. This will be followed by total eclipse thoughts.

Total Eclipse (of the heart) Thoughts

• The newcomer Utes will come close to running roughshod over their new conference but they are the Utes so they will lose once along the way. That won’t stop them from JerryWorld in December, though.
• The Brent Brennan begins in Tucson as Jedd Fisch (who was so much better than I thought he would be) bolted for the Washington Huskies and the Pac-12 Big Ten, leaving the Pac-12 Big XII Wildcats to forge forward with a new staff. I don’t think there will be much of a drop off, mostly because Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan are back one more time to play some pitch and catch all over Arizona Stadium. These two could be the best QB-WR combo in the land, at least statistically, this season. Problem will be that it is going to be so crammed at the top of the conference standings and only two teams get to play at JerryWorld.
• One of those teams that will somehow get out of the smoke (barely) is Oklahoma State. The Fighting Mullets will win a few games that many will think they won’t. They will win a few close games that maybe they shouldn’t have. And Mike Fucking Gundy is going to have this team in contention for a playoff spot.
• Now, saying that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the aforementioned Zona, along with Kansas State, TCU, Kansas and even West Virginia could punch their ticket to the conference championship. It will be that close at the top.
• Surprises in the cellar? I don’t think so. Houston and Arizona State will not be good at all and BYU has a monster of a schedule. Very little chance any of these teams make it to Bowl Season (now watch one of them go 9-3).
• Welp, I already showed my hand. I have given you my two choices for the Big XII Big Game at the End of the Season. All that’s left is to give a final score. Prediction: Oklahoma State 34 Utah 20.
• I can see ten of the sixteen teams of the Big Twelve conference playing in bowl games this season. Expect everyone’s least favourite team, Colorado, to be one of the teams to be juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust short of the postseason.
• OK now with only four “Power” conferences (kind of), will the Big XII finally get their own network? Part of me hopes so since having a fair amount of their conference games on ESPN+ sucks. You can call it The Big XII on ESPN+ and it’s still terrible. Look, put the money together, FOX and/or ESPN, and get this done already! I am mostly doing this for Canadians since I assume a conference network would be shown on either a specialty pack or TSN+ up here. See? Always looking out for you.

Hey remember what I said about realignment above and how it might help the Big XII? OK, I won’t go into it again but it would do the opposite for the ACC. There. No more realignment talk….during this post.

Hell, I am just going to get right to the ACC predictions for the 2023 season and then I will follow those very predictions up with a section I like to call All Coast Conference Horseshit (and Musings):

All Coast Conference Horseshit (and Musings)

• Why not change the name of the conference? Maybe because the Big XII has 16 teams and the Big Ten has 18 teams and Pac-12 has 2 teams. Let’s just be glad Conference USA contains teams from the United States of America and nowhere else.
• There is no prohibitive favourite this season in the Brand New Atlantic Coast Conference 2024. A team that might be a surprise to some will be Miami. The Canes loaded up from the transfer portal and this may be their best chance to finally win the ACC Championship.
• They will have some stiff competition from the perennial contenders from Florida State and Clemson. Clemson will be better than they were last year despite the fact Dabo Swinney has Transferportalphobia. FSU won’t be as good as last year but should be in the CFP mix (although some might say they will be much better than the team that got blasted in the Orange Bowl which may also be correct).
• NC State SHOULD be good this year. Operative word being SHOULD. Dave Doeren has somehow been the best thing to happen to the team out of Raleigh but they can’t seem to put it all together and win the damn conference. They’ll need an upset or two but don’t be surprised if they are in Charlotte in December.
• Another team that could be in Charlotte in the final month of the year is the Mustangs of Southern Methodist. They make their return to Power……let’s call it Power Conference football. Yeah, that sounds good. First time in a Power Conference since 1995 when they were in the Southwest Conference. And they are doing this while forgoing TV revenue for a whole lot of years. Helps that some of the alumni are stupid rich and can fork over enough money to make this team a contender right away.
• Another newcomer who should do fairly well is Cal. They have an agreeable schedule which would allow them to probably get them to at least six wins.
• The leash could become very tight in Pittsburgh for Pat Narduzzi. The Panthers are not too far removed from a trip to the Peach Bowl and teams struggling when they go to Heinz Field. Now it’s not Heinz Field anymore and it shows. One bad season usually doesn’t kill a coach’s chances of continuing with a team but two will have us hearing some grumblings about his job security.
• ELEVEN teams I have coming out of the ACC to participate in bowl season. That seems absurd until you realize this constitutes 65% of the conference; not even two-thirds of the ACC. Also expect quite a few of these teams to have at least outside shots at the playoff going into November.
• In the end, I have, thanks to tiebreakers, the matchup that the ACC wanted TWENTY GOD DAMN YEARS AGO with Miami facing off against Florida State. And, sorry fans of The U, I got the Noles burying the spear in your hearts and heading to the College Football Playoff with a good shot at a first-round bye. Prediction: Florida State 31 Miami 21.

And that completes the Central Two (Halfway Two? Not-Quite-Power-Conference Two?). We have two more conferences to go and those are the ones that almost everyone from ESPN and FOX loves whether they like to admit it or not. After that will be all the other pertinent predictions for the upcoming season.

Also, we have made it. College football starts this…..fucking….month. Exactly three weeks away from commencing the 2024 season in the college football hotbed of Dublin, Ireland. Can’t wait (as Bart Scott would say). Have a great long weekend (if you have a long weekend) everyone!