CFP Predictions & Feuds
Here is DWWBYa's CFP Bracket and thoughts on how beautifully Texan the game against Clemson is.
I had to stay on brand with my CFP picks. Plus, I value narratives over anything else, I’m a writer who is a fan, a fan who writes, so you already know who I’m picking to win the National Championship and who I’m picking them to defeat. It’s The Three Match. But, more on revenge below.
My big upset picks are SMU over Penn State, I’ll never trust James Franklin. In big games, he’s the normally confident groomsmen who when giving a wedding toast breaks down in cold sweats and a stuttering scattershot of “Umms”, only before calling the bride by the groom’s ex-girlfriend’s name. In the end of it all, a grandmother is offended, a bride is crying, a Luke Bryan song has been quoted, and details of the couple’s sex life has been shared for everyone to hear. So yeah, I don’t like Franklin in big games and the Ponies have house money on their side. How about that Boise State/SMU round 2? Will it get higher ratings than that week’s episode of The Masked Singer?
If they get past the Volunteers, I have Ohio State and Ryan Day overcoming their broken hearts to knock out the Ducks in Round 2. Ultimately, I think the rust will catch up to somebody and the Ducks are my pick. Even though it sadly doesn’t apply to Texas and Georgia, I have a hard time believing Oregon will beat Ohio State for a second time after a month off.
Regarding the Longhorns, I have a weird feeling that Texas will either lose to Clemson or win the whole f’ing thing. I’m an all or nothing person like that. I think Clemson was a challenging first round draw because of their talent, Dabo Swinney’s “know-how” and Cade Klubnik’s ability to win a Hero Ball game, but I think if Texas simply survives and advances it will pay dividends. Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers benefit from time off and every time we see this offense with prep time it has new bells and whistles. The format of this goofy tournament is to Texas’ benefit.
Post your bracket below in the comments!
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I’ve been casually reading two books by an author named C.L. Sonnichsen about the Greatest Feuds in Texas history. Several of his stories are retold in John Graves’ Texas epic, Goodbye To a River. Kentucky might have the most famous feud in the Hatfields and McCoys, but the Lone Star State has dozens of tales of warring clans whose bloodlust lasted generations and died on top of the land in which we live today. And I know Cade Klubnik, Quinn Ewers, Andrew Mukuba and Michael Taaffe have all played nice this week in the press and I’m sure they really are cordial off the field, but I love how primal this matchup, this reunion, this duel feels. How very Texan it is. It’s a coming home story for Klubnik, who returns to his hometown of Austin wanting to upend the dreams of his neighbors and friends. It’s a revenge story for Ewers, who was on the losing side of the State Championship against Klubnik’s Westlake in high school. Ewers has been raked through the coals and strapped to the whipping post by the media, NFL draft “experts” and his own fans for weeks. He’s shown his veins flow with ice water before. If health is on his side, it’s his chance to do it again. On the Clemson side there’s a traitor narrative with Mukuba and for Taaffe it’s the ultimate “prove yourself” game after he was snubbed by the SEC and faces off against his former quarterback from Westlake.
Yeah, we Texans have a knack for letting feuds fester, for settling scores that were started generations earlier. Feuding is in the dirt, in the grass, it’s even embedded into the green turf under the lights. As Sonnichsen writes: “‘Vengeance is Mine!’ saith the Lord. But in and out of Texas He has always had plenty of help.”
ICYMI…what I wrote for Inside Texas this week is below (if you’re not subscribed, you are missing out!)
SMU losing to Boise State?!?!? Explains the lack of likes on this post sir