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TiK's Ten: Week Three Thoughts on College Football & Mizzou

Well, that sucked.

I am lucky enough to have several friends who are fans of a range of schools and also dedicated college football junkies and when talking with them prior to the game on Saturday, I admitted I was not optimistic. That Purdue was a team we should beat on paper, but that every indication in the first two weeks of the season - Purdue playing well vs. Louisville and handling Ohio, and us looking bad vs. both Missouri State and South Carolina - pointed to this being a potential disaster. And it was, as disastrous as any home game I can remember at this point in the season.

As fans, we hate seasons like this. In my 23 years of having season tickets, there have been some bad ones. 1995. 1999 started okay but fell off a cliff. 2000, of course. 2001. 2004 got out of hand early. 2012 wasn't very fun. Then 2015 and 2016. The good news is that there are excuses for most of those. But now and then you really just have a season go down the tubes very early and those seasons suck. But, for the true believer fans, it is seasons like this that make the winning sweeter when things turn around. And they will, as the always will.

This year, there are still 9 games left to play but even the most optimistic among us don't have a lot of reason for hope. And that on that somber note, here are this week's ten thoughts:

1. A September to Forget. I started off my TiK's Ten by calling this a September to Remember - four compelling games to start off the season. A look at the schedule and you're like "That's a lot of games and a lot of trips to Columbia, but it will be fun." Well, it's been a nightmare -- and now this season will be memorable for how historically bad this month has been.

2. On Saturday, it all just felt and looked inept. There was nothing redeeming about Saturday's game, save the punter. Everything from play calling to execution to mistakes to penalties seemed like we were just a team that was poorly coached and did not have the proper focus. That's different than effort - sometimes a complete lack of a clue can look similar to lack of effort, and I would decidedly go with the former in my evaluation of the Tigers so far. And inept is not good at all.

3. Sadly, 1-11 is not unrealistic. UCONN is bad but they're on the road. I pointed out early how Idaho is actually decent and they'll want a nice FBS win on the way out the FBS door. Every team in the SEC we have left to play is better than us. Frankly any win we get will feel like a huge achievement given the play we've seen, and that's saying something, but it goes to show how badly it can go when you are mentally messed up, and that's what this team is.

4. Yet 4 or 5 or even 6 wins is still out there, IF we can get it together. Sometimes it is darkest before dawn and that is the mindset we will have to adopt as fans, just as much as the team will have to. If you want to be optimistic, Auburn has not looked great so far. Idaho and UCONN are still Idaho and UCONN. Tennessee and Arkansas are not exactly setting the world on fire early. Kentucky and Vanderbilt are great improved but aren't dominating anyone and are beatable by a Tiger team playing its best. So there is no reason to give up.

5. Hang in there, fans. We're all worried, justifiably, about the long term impact on the fan base and attendance. In the examples I shared above, you'll notice there has rarely been a multi-year period of losing since we first got on the map again between 1996 and 1998. 99, 00, 01 were bad, but we started to rebound in 02. 04 we laid an egg, but not this bad. 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10 and 11 were all wins. Then 12 was 12 and turned into historic 13 and 14. Now, 17 has a chance to be the third straight dreadful year and that can wreak havoc on a fan base. So, here is hoping our fans will hang in there to see us through this period, because the program could crater if not..and I don't mean that to be alarmist, but it could.

With that all in mind, here's are my thoughts on college football as a whole...

6. I like some of the young and upcoming coaches. I mention this on purpose due to the fact it's going to be talked about in relation to Mizzou. I think there is some talent out there in the Group of Five level that is exciting, whether you're looking at potential future prospects for your own school or just because it's exciting as a fan of the game. Specifically, Frank Wilson, Chris Creighton, and Jason Candle stand out to me.

7. San Diego State becomes the Group of Five frontrunner. Those who read my TiK's Ten in 13 and 14 know that I like to follow the progress of the Group of Five teams and this week produced a great win by the Aztecs over Stanford. This puts them at #1 in the Group of Five power rankings, followed closely by Memphis and South Florida. Toledo also looked good and Boise State and Colorado State are also lingering.

8. On that note, I like Calhoun's idea. Air Force coach Troy Calhoun favors a mini playoff within the Group of Five schools and I think that could be a really compelling thing. What i would do is ditch the conference title games (this also helps address the "too many games" concern) and have a special committee choose four teams to compete in a mini-playoff, with the winner getting an automatic bid into an 8-team playoff, and the others eligible for an at-large selection. It wouldn't be conference champs, automatically, either, because what if Boise State and Colorado State are both amazing? This year I could see it being Memphis, South Florida, Toledo and San Diego State, for instance. That would be some exciting football in early December.

9. On Transfers. I'm not sure what to make of the proposal to allow players to transfer immediately without sitting out a year. I think on one hand, it could lead to major issues in terms of recruitment that never stops and players being free agents with no commitment - for instance, a QB narrowly loses out the starting job and then leaves for another school knowing he can play immediately, when if he had just been patient, he would eventually take over. Yet, on the flip side, I have never really thought it was fair to lock players in like that. It will be interesting to see where this issue goes.

10. I still love this game. If you're only into college football due to Mizzou, then this season is dreadful. But, if you love the game then I would encourage folks, even if Mizzou doesn't recover this year, to adopt a team or two and just follow the season overall. More than any other sport, there is nothing like college football if nothing more than the spectacle of Saturday, where you can flip on the TV or radio at 8 or 9 a.m. and do nothing but listen or watch college football coverage and games til 1 a.m. at night. On Saturday evening after we got home from the game, I was watching three games at once - including Tulsa- Toledo on my phone. It's really an amazing sport, and if there is one thing I'm looking forward to starting September 30th, it's actually *not* having to go to Columbia for a few weekends, as much as I love it.

TIK's Top 5: 1. Alabama; 2. Clemson; 3. Penn State; 4. Oklahoma; 5. Oklahoma State.

Until next week...

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