The Carla and Crappy Show

Carla and Crappy Show: The Other Blackout Edition

Last week’s blackout in College Park wasn’t so impressive … especially after all the Maryland fans left, which meant the Penn State fans wearing white were even more noticeable than they usually are.   There is another blackout this weekend, this time in Columbus as Ohio State hosts Michigan State … and we’re thinking things might go better for the home team this time around, especially if one of us — we’ll leave it to you to figure out who — thinks Ohio State is the best team in the country at this point.   We begin with AJ’s #GroupOfFiveAfterDark lineup: UCF-Cincinnati, a directional Michigan showdown and Marshall-Middle. And then:   No. 14 Iowa at No. 19 Michigan (Big Nude Saturday, Fox) Iowa can score and play defense. Michigan has not demonstrated that it can do either of those things consistently the year. Hm.   No. 7 Auburn at No. 10 Florida (3:30 p.m., CBS) Kyle Trask doesn’t have the same high-quality SEC name as Bo Nix, but he’s looked sharp since he stepped in as Florida’s starting QB.   No. 25 Michigan State at No. 4 Ohio State (7:30 p.m., ABC) The Buckeyes are humming, but Sparty has a bad habit of crushing Ohio State hopes at inopportune moments.   Enjoy the games, yinz guys.

Carla and Crappy Show: The B1G Contenders or Pretenders Edition

It's Week 5 of the college football season ... and it's time to start deciding contenders and pretenders. But we have to do it quietly, because one of us is technically still at the office while we're recording this show. After lamenting missing yet another epic finish after dark on the West Coast, toasting to Pitt after it did a Pitt thing, and actually giving Notre Dame credit (we can't believe we're doing it either), we check in on our weekly Clemsoning Index. (Hint: This week is intriguing.) Next ... we welcome back our friend AJ to tell us about #GroupOfFiveAfterDark. Not sure what that is? It's OK, we totally made it up. But AJ has all things weird, wacky, and late on his radar. (Which is good. Because, you know, we keep missing all the fun West Coast games.) And finally ... we dive into three Big Ten games (since that's where our loyalties lie) to start sorting out which teams are potentially ready to take a step into the spotlight this season ... or not. No 12 Penn State at Maryland (8 ET Friday, FS1): This game is so big, Maryland canceled all non-lab classes on Friday afternoon. The Terps caught all of our attention with an early season stomping of Syracuse ... then lost last week to Temple. Anthony McFarland is the real deal at running back. But beyond that, what is Maryland? We'll find out Friday night. Indiana at No. 25 Michigan State (3:30 CT, BTN): Indiana's 3-1 ... but that one loss was a complete rout by Ohio State. Brian Lewerke's still the quarterback at Michigan State (for, what, the 17th year?) ... but Sparty has already done its Sparty thing and lost inexplicably to Arizona State. Is either team ready to take the next step this season? No. 5 Ohio State at Nebraska (7:30 ET, ABC): Night games in Lincoln are always entertaining. So is Adrian Martinez, the Nebraska QB who has 1000+ yards already this season. But the Huskers defense is giving up a bunch of yards, which is never a good recipe when facing the Bucks, who have blown out every opponent this season. And sorry, AJ -- Crappy is going to watch this game, no matter what you say. Enjoy the games, yinz guys.

Carla and Crappy Show: The Not-So-Amazin’ Blue Edition

t's Week 4 of the college football season ... and for all we know, Iowa and Iowa State are still playing in a cornfield somewhere in Ames. (We kid. That game had a spectacular ending. 17 hours after kickoff. Or something like that.) After a weekend of intriguing matchups but no true blockbusters, we're ready for three games of ranked-on-ranked Top 25 action this Saturday. (Of course, that's assuming that Crappy can curb his Ohio State enthusiasm for a just a little bit ... and Carla can find her way out of the sea of boxes in her new house to find the TV remote.) No. 11 Michigan at No. 13 Wisconsin (Noon ET, FOX): What the heck's wrong with Michigan? Crappy asked the question last week; Carla asks the question this week. With an offense that still seems to be in disarray and a defense allowing more yards than usual, Michigan has its hands full this week with a Bucky team that puts up a bunch of yards (behind a quarterback not named Hornibrook!) and boasts one of the top defenses in the nation. No. 8 Auburn at No. 17 Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Welcome to the SEC, Bo Nix. The frosh Auburn QB looked the part against Oregon; playing at Kyle Field against an Aggie defense that's done a nice job of stifling the run is another ask altogether. No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 3 Georgia (8 p.m. ET, CBS): Last year, all we wanted was for someone to beat Notre Dame already. This year, we think Georgia is up to the task. Pro tip: If your QB is your leading rusher, you have issues on offense. We're looking squarely at you, Brian Kelly. Enjoy the games, yinz guys.

Carla and Crappy Show: The Speed Round Edition

Bob Barker is nowhere to be found, but this week’s Carla and Crappy Show definitely has a game show vibe, as Carla and Crappy cruise through six of this weekend’s most intriguing games in short order. And, as a bonus: A new weekly feature we’re calling the Clemsoning Index. We also bid farewell to Carla’s studio of several years — also known as her old apartment — while she and her husband set up shop in their new home in southeast Nashville. On the docket this week, in speed round fashion: 9:15 p.m. Friday: 20 Washington State at Houston, ESPN: Hot Coug-on-Coug action. Noon Saturday, 6 Ohio State at Indiana, Fox: IU gives Ohio State fits. Noon Saturday, Pitt at 13 Penn State, ABC: Sorry, Pitt — last week’s success against Crappy’s Bobcats won’t carry over. 4 p.m. Saturday, 19 Iowa at Iowa State, FS1: The Corn Bowl! 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Florida State at 25 Virginia, ACCN: It’s probably just as well no one will be able to actually watch this game. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 Clemson at Syracuse, ABC: The debut of the Clemsoning Index. Enjoy the games, yinz guys.

Carla and Crappy Show: The #BleedGreen edition

Week one gave us games for pretty much a full week. Week two? Things are getting serious, in Columbus, in Clemson and in Austin. Oh, and also in Los Angeles and … Pittsburgh? Yep.   Cincinnati at 5 Ohio State, noon Saturday, Fox: Luke Fickell returns to Columbus with a speedy, opportunistic defense that will look to create problems for Justin Fields, Ohio State’s young quarterback. Will this be the first time since 2011 (when Fickell was coaching Ohio State) that UC will win the mythical Ohio State Championship. Uh, no.   12 Texas A&M at 1 Clemson, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: This was a tight game in College Station a year ago, but the Tigers are bigger, faster and have another year of experience under their belts. If this team truly is better than the one that throttled Alabama for the national championship a year ago, a home game against a solid Aggies team shouldn’t be a problem.   6 LSU at 10 Texas, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: Bad news for the Longhorns: One week after you gave up 340 passing yards to Louisiana Tech, you get to face LSU’s brand new spread offense. This will not go well for the home team.   All of this fun, plus quick mentions of The Stanford Postulate and what impact it will have in the LA Coliseum and MACtion about to kick off in the Mustard Bowl. We got pretty much everything wrong last week, but this time will be different! Enjoy the weekend, boys and girls.

Carla and Crappy Show: The Ocho Edition

You wouldn't think after eight years of this little college football prognostication podcast that we would get first day jitters ... but here we are! There's something exciting about beginning a new season ... even if we're starting out looking a whole heck of a lot like, well, the past three seasons.    After celebrating our offseason accomplishments, we renew our first episode tradition of picking our College Football Playoff teams and, well, stop us if you've heard them before. Not only are our teams becoming a bit too familiar ... but we even pick the same four teams. Sigh.   But then ... BUT THEN ... there are actual games happening this weekend! (Sorry Florida and Miami.) And the excitement returns as we realize we have not one but FIVE days of college football awaiting us this weekend. Here are the games we have on our radars:   Northwestern at Stanford (4 ET Saturday, FOX): Would someone explain to us why Northwestern begins this season unranked? Because we're both very confused by this, especially now that Hunter Johnson is eligible at QB. Meanwhile, we put the "Carla and Crappy Show Stanford Postulate" into play in the very first week of the season. KJ Costello returns under center, but will the Stanford run game return as well?   Auburn vs. Oregon (7:30 ET Saturday, ABC): Auburn has a true freshman starting at quarterback, its head coach calling plays, and a solid defensive line. The rest is, quite frankly, still a mystery. Meanwhile, Oregon is nearly the epitome of a known quantity. Justin Herbert surprised many by not entering the draft ... and he now has a guy named Juwan Johnson (as Carla sheds a tear) to throw the ball to. This game is intriguing, even if the neutral-site atmosphere likely will not be.   Houston at Oklahoma (7:30 ET Sunday, ABC): Way back in early spring, this game was SUPER intriguing. With Dana Holgorsen escaping the rolling hills of WVU and heading back to Texas, it looked like the Cougs had a legit shot at pulling a major upset in Week 1. And then Jalen Hurts transferred to Oklahoma ... and our dreams disappeared like dust in the wind. Or like the Sooner offense will likely do to a lackluster Houston defense. If you like points, though, tune in. This one could get silly quickly.   And finally, we give a quick nod to Carla's MTSU Blue Raiders paying a visit to that state up north and, dare we say, an overrated Michigan team ... as well as the Fighting Kiffins of FAU who head north to take on Crappy's Buckeyes.   It's a long weekend. We've survived our first day ... so now it's time to settle in for a first weekend of college football. Enjoy the games. We'll be back to recap everything we got wrong next week. 

Carla and Crappy Show: The Natty Edition

And then there were two. In the most anticlimactic end to a (somewhat) bonkers season ever, Alabama and Clemson - the two teams that nearly everyone expected to be national title contenders entering this season - will indeed play each other Monday night ... in our least favorite stadium in Santa Clara. Sigh. (In case you were wondering, tickets are indeed still available.) But, a national title game is to be celebrated, and so in our final show of the 2018 season, we attempt to do just that. So we begin ... by talking about literally everything else we can think of, including the end of a fantastic bowl season and outrageous predictions for the 2019 season. Oh, and hey, someone finally beat Notre Dame! And then ... we get to the inevitable. CFP National Championship: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 1 Alabama (8 ET Monday, ESPN): In addition to being the No. 2 team in the country, Clemson boasts the nation's No. 2 scoring, total, and rush defense. But ... Alabama has Tua, Saban, and an offensive line that's allowed just 13 sacks this season. On paper, this looks to be a set up for a fantastic chess match. Here's hoping. Thanks to AJ for his #GroupOfFiveAfterDark insights all season ... and thanks to all of you, our listeners and viewers, for keeping us around for seven seasons of college football silliness. Have a great off-season. We'll see you next fall! #ocho

Carla and Crappy Show: The 2018 Final Four Edition

In the midst of what has been a crazy Bowlapalooza season, it's time to get serious. Four teams have been selected ... and now it's time to talk about the college football playoff. Playoff? Playoff. After a conversation about coaching changes (hey, Crappy was right about something!) and early bowl results, we get right down to business. Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Clemson (4 ET Saturday, ESPN): Clemson's got a really good defense, especially against the run ... and an offense that's putting up 45 points per game. Notre Dame has had an extra week of rest with no pesky conference title to contend for ... and a decent defense of its own. Neither of these teams have been tested much at the end of the season. We have different thoughts about this game, but wind up in the same place. Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Alabama (8 ET Saturday, ESPN): There's going to be a whole lot of red in the Orange Bowl on Saturday night ... and possibly a bunch of fireworks as well, as the top two offenses in the country go head-to-head. Alabama's got a really, really good defense. Oklahoma ... does not. But if this game gets into a shootout, all bets are off. And in probably the upset of the entire #CnCShow season, one of us actually doesn't pick Alabama to win. So, plan on winding down your 2018 with some popcorn and bubbly on the couch and settle in for the two games we've been waiting for all season long. Happy New Year, boys and girls. We'll have one final show to wrap things up next week.

Carla and Crappy Show: The 2018 Bowlapalooza Edition

Bowl season is upon us, which can only mean one thing … it’s time for our #CnCShow annual roast of the 3,613 meaningless (but ridiculously fun) college football games that will happen between now and early January, in a show that we lovingly call Bowlapalooza. In addition to our #GroupOfFiveAfterDark correspondent AJ Kufic, we’re typically joined by a cast of thousands. This year, however, we apparently needed to work on making more friends, because the only person we could bribe to return is Carla’s husband, David Fox, a recovering sports journalist. But we’ve regrouped and carried on. (At least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.) After a conversation about the existing College Football Playoff and our desires for a new version of said playoff, here are the bowl games that made the cut this year: DXL Frisco Bowl (8 p.m ET Wed., Dec. 19, ESPN) San Diego State (7-5) vs. Ohio (8-4) Crappy gets the first bowl game this year as his Bobcats are playing a bowl that is somehow (remarkably) not in San Francisco. Ohio has won four of its last five games … SDSU has lost four of five. Hmm. Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl (12:30 p.m. ET Fri., Dec. 21, ESPN) Florida International (8-4) vs. Toledo (7-5) David takes this one because don’t these two teams play each other every year? Isn’t FIU in the MAC South? We kid. Only slightly. Jared Birmingham Bowl (12 p.m. ET Sat., Dec. 22, ESPN) Memphis (8-5) vs. Wake Forest (6-6) David’s second pick. A Group of Five team finally plays a team from a major conference … and it’s Wake Forest. (Insert sad trombone here.) Also, who the heck is Jared Birmingham? Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (3:30 p.m. ET Sat., Dec. 22, ESPN) Houston (8-4) vs. Army (10-2) As an Army veteran, Crappy takes this bowl … and the Black Knights, a team that’s riding high after another win over rival Navy. Houston has a prolific offense … but Army runs the triple-option and has the ninth-best defense in the country. Cheez-It Bowl (9 p.m. ET Wed., Dec. 26, ESPN) California (7-5) vs. TCU (6-6) Carla takes this game because … snacks! Seriously, you may need a box of Cheez-Its to get through this game, which features two lackluster offenses. This is Cal’s first bowl appearance since 2015. Walk-On’s Independence Bowl (1:30 p.m. ET Thurs., Dec. 27, ESPN) Temple (8-4) vs. Duke (7-5) Nope. This is in fact not a basketball game. It’s an actual college football game that Carla picked because Temple interim head coach Ed Foley is an amazing human being who happened to give one of the best press conference speeches ever in mid-December. Camping World Bowl (5:15 p.m. ET Fri., Dec. 28, ESPN) West Virginia (8-3) vs. Syracuse (9-3) Oh, hey … AJ finally gets a game! Despite Will Grier sitting this one out, there’s still a lot of intrigue here. Dino versus Holgo? This could get stupid silly. Redbox Bowl (3 p.m. ET Mon., Dec. 31, FOX) Michigan State (7-5) vs. Oregon (8-4) AJ picks this game for many reasons, but two in particular stand out — it’s sponsored by a physical media company in the heart of Silicon Valley, and no one will see it because it’s being played in Santa Clara during rush hour. But if you ever wanted to attend a bowl game for $25, this is the game for you! As always, we’re incredibly grateful to David and AJ for joining us. The #CnCShow will be back with our first of two College Football Playoff preview shows at the end of the month. Happy holidays … and enjoy this most wonderful football time of the year!

Carla and Crappy Show: The 2018 Championship Week Edition

We've finally reached the point of the college football season when the week doesn't matter. Yes, boys and girls, it's Championship Week. We're once again joined in studio by our good buddy AJ, our #GroupOfFiveAfterDark correspondent, and we dive into each and every FBS conference title game. Yes, really. Ten games. Buckle up. This one's a fun ride. Group of Five We begin in AJ's stomping ground and talk about five games that you shouldn't ignore this weekend. MAC: Northern Illinois at Buffalo (7 ET Friday, ESPN2): The weather should be delightful. Watch this game if for no other reason than to enjoy Buffalo QB Tyree Jackson play football. Sun Belt: Louisiana-Lafayette at Appalachian State (Noon ET, ESPN): Spoiler alert - we like Appy State. A lot. C-USA: UAB at MTSU (1:30 ET, CBS Sports Network): It's really hard to beat a team twice in the same season, let alone in consecutive weeks in the same building. (Carla's just happy to finally have a team to talk about on Championship Week!) American: Memphis at UCF (3:30 ET, ABC): Oh, McKenzie Milton, how we wish you were playing in this game. Mountain West: Fresno State at Boise State (7:45 ET, ESPN): This one should be a dandy, with the blue turf and all. But a pre-dark kickoff? For shame. Major Conferences And then, we dive head-first into the major conference games ... Pac-12: Utah vs. Washington (8 ET Friday, FOX): If you like Big Ten football ... give this game a look. Expect a low-scoring, defensive affair between these two teams. Big 12: Texas vs. Oklahoma (Noon ET, ABC): It's the Red River Rivalry Redux. With a shot at the playoff on the line, expect the Sooners to play with an extra chip on their shoulders to avenge the early-October loss. SEC: Georgia vs. Alabama (4 ET, CBS): Welp, here we go. Does Georgia have what it takes to upend the presumed top team in the country? Or will the Tide roll right in to the playoff yet again? (See what we did there?) ACC: Clemson vs. Pitt (8 ET, ABC): Hey, Clemson? Do. Not. Sleep. On. This. Game. Because as we've discussed, Pitt loves to play in games it has no business being in. Big Ten: Northwestern vs. Ohio State (8 ET, FOX): Is Ohio State playing for a playoff spot? We're not so sure. But the Buckeyes shouldn't sleep on Northwestern, a team that plays that an offense that's darn similar to ones that have given them fits this year. Whew. Got all that? Get a comfy spot on the couch and get ready for a full weekend of big-time games. We'll be back in a couple of weeks to for Bowlapalooza.