Can Paredes play 2B? If Paredes can play 40/50 games at 2B while Altuve DHs and Yordan plays LF, then I don’t think the IF is all that crowded. He should get another 20 games at both 3B and 1B while Correa and Walker rests. He should also get the DH spot when it’s not occupied by Yordan and Altuve. He hasn’t been at 2B since 2023 when he played 14 games for the Rays. I believe his value to the Astros is likely higher than any other franchise due to his ability to pull the ball to left field. If he can’t play 2nd, then Altuve won’t get as many games at DH which would be a problem at his age. Also I’m hoping Espada has been told that Nick Allen should be a late inning defensive replacement only. I’m ready for Pitchers and Catchers to report.
Tech scored 0 points for the entire game. The Tech/Boise/ASU games need to be eliminated from the conversation. Those were seeding mistakes or a stupid rule. Did Georgia and Ohio State lose because of a poor offensive first quarter? These games are toss-ups.
While I agree with most of the proposed changes in format, people should stop mentioning the layoff as the reason higher seeded teams are losing. Georgia needed a big 4th quarter rally to beat Ole Miss in October. Those 2 teams are comparable and I didn’t see any evidence of rust while Georgia’s offense scored 34 points. The reality is Georgia and Ole Miss are essentially equals this year. It’s the same as Georgia’s loss to Notre Dame last year and by the way, Georgia lost its starting QB to injury in the SEC championship game. Ohio State wasn’t exactly a juggernaut this year and had OL problems most of the year which played into Miami’s hands. OSU lost because their first year QB threw a pick 6. Tech lost because it’s simply not as good as Oregon. The Committee screwed up the seeding. Did the layoff hurt Oregon last year in the Rose Bowl? Maybe. The lesson to take from these games is not that the layoff is hurting the higher seeds. The lesson is that most games between 2 Top 10 teams are basically coin flips that turn on a few key plays in a game. Go to 16 and play the first 2 rounds at home.
Understandably everyone is talking about Cignetti. What would it take to bring Bostad, IU’s OL coach to replace Flood? I’m extremely impressed with Indiana’s OL.
But the favorites are 4-2 in these games. They already fixed the issue from Year 1 by not automatically giving byes to conference champions. The next fix is to get the Committee to actually factor in strength of schedule into the rankings. Tech should have been in the field but they were not the 4th best team.
For the people saying they should play because they are paid. NFL starters don’t play every snap in exhibition games. This is absolutely an exhibition game and should be treated as such.
If a player is moving on to the NFL, I have no problem with them opting out. I don’t have any issue if Sark decides to manage the number of snaps for any player returning in 2026.
For the folks comparing this to previous teams playing in the Rose and Sugar Bowls, those comparisons aren’t relevant. You may as well be reminiscing about DX Bible and leather helmets. When the playoffs expanded to 12, the only games that matter are the 12 regular season games and the playoffs. Arguably, the CFP has also made conference championship games close to irrelevant as well with their placement of Alabama yesterday.