Welcome to Doughty's Dump, your daily dump of college football and college basketball links, videos and other goodness. And if your time isn't valuable, follow me on Twitter and check out my podcast, High Motor.
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Playoff Notes
In the Week 12 College Football Playoff Rankings in 2015, 23 of the 25 spots were different than in Week 11. Two years later, in Week 11 of the 2017 rankings, 23 spots were also different. That's the biggest week-to-week difference in the five years of the playoff.
Minnesota is one of several teams guaranteed to be ranked higher in the Week 12 rankings, though the Gophers are a road underdog in Week 12 against Iowa, which Pat Forde lists as one of five potential trap games that could spoil playoff runs over the final three weeks.
"Vegas doesn’t just see this as a trap; it sees it as a Hawkeyes win up front," writes Forde, referencing the favored Hawkeyes (-3). "The biggest challenge for the Gophers is to come down out of the clouds from a once-in-a-lifetime scene last Saturday, the field stormed after taking down Penn State to go 9–0. The second challenge is Minnesota’s victory drought in Iowa City—last win there was 1999. And the third challenge is the fact that Iowa has taken down some highly ranked opponents in Kinnick Stadium in recent years, most notably Michigan in 2016 and Ohio State in ’17."
Also, a scalding playoff take from Rex Ryan, who appears unaware it's a four-team playoff field:
"One hundred percent Alabama should be in it,” Ryan said Monday on ESPN. “LSU, Clemson and Alabama are the three best teams. Don’t ever put Penn State ahead of Clemson, for the love of God. And the guys from Minnesota, row your boat down there to Clemson and get beat by 40. Stop it already.
"Put Ohio State in there and they’ll get beat by 37 like they did last time they played Clemson. The three best teams, let’s not ruin it.”
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Muschamp Update
With Saturday's loss to App State, South Carolina fell to 4-6 this season and barring wins over both Clemson and Texas A&M in their final two regular-season games the Gamecocks will miss a bowl game for the second time in the last five seasons. Muschamp is just three games over .500 in his three-plus seasons as head coach (26-23) and under .500 in conference play (15-16).
Despite the struggles, Muschamp — who has a buyout of nearly $20 million — and athletics director Ray Tanner are expected to return, tweeted Mike Gillespie on Monday.
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Ralphie Doesn't Run
Ralphie, Colorado's 1,200-pound buffalo and the best live mascot in sports, hasn't run in two of the last three games due to "temperament" concerns.
From Ralphie Report:
In an official statement prior to the game, Ralphie’s program manager John Graves addressed the concerns of fans saying, “The decision for (Ralphie) to run each game is made with the utmost of caution, with Ralphie’s well-being always being our number one priority, along with the safety of her handlers.”
He went on to slightly elaborate but didn’t get into specifics. “Based on her temperament at Friday’s practice last night, we are just not comfortable with Ralphie running today. However, she will still be at Ralphie’s Corral today for fans to come see her,” Graves said.
Even though Ralphie has been “out of the lineup,” the rumors of the 13-year-old American Bison facing health issues was denied by Graves. “Ralphie’s health is totally fine. She is doing well. Each week we make the decision about her running based on what she wants. Last game she was very eager to run and we felt it wasn’t a safe situation.”
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The Big Dump
Illinois can finish second in the Big Ten West . . . Ranking all 130 college football teams . . . Kansas State unveiled a new white "Cats" helmet . . . Mid-major basketball: Overreactions to the first week . . . Explaining the James Wiseman case . . . Mike Leach isn't enjoying himself this season . . . How Pat Tillman's legacy lives on through veterans who receive a scholarship in his name . . . Week 12 Heisman Rankings . . . App State is 89 percent on fourth downs this season.
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Remember When…
West Virginia needed to beat an average Pittsburgh team in Morgantown to clinch a spot in the BCS National Championship. Instead, the Mountaineers lost and haven't been anywhere near the title discussion since.
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High Motor
If you're interested in recent episodes of the High Motor podcast:
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