Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
What will College Football look like?
12 Plays1 year ago
Eli discusses the current outlook for the college football season, as well as some insights on the NBA playoffs.
August 16, 2020
Recommended
Transcript
College Football Scheduling and Reactions
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, welcome to the fifth episode of Eli's students. Today we will be discussing college football and probably the NBA playoffs. So college football, there are three power five conferences that have decided to play. Two of them have decided to have a 10 game conference only schedule and the SEC, the other one,
00:00:24
Speaker
has decided to have a 12 game conference only schedule. So each team is only going to not play one team in the SEC. So that's time. um They're not used to that, but they'll make it work. And then the pack 12 and the big 10, they have decided to postpone their seasons. They're probably going to try to play it in the spring. Now,
00:00:53
Speaker
The bag 12, all the coaches and players were like, okay, you guys made the right decision in the big 10. They're really getting mad. They, there are really, they just really want to play. And some of the parents are saying, well, it's a better condition to play outside and all that.
COVID-19 Concerns in College Football
00:01:15
Speaker
But I agree with that, but it is still a huge risk to be playing football during COVID-19.
00:01:22
Speaker
because, I mean, they're touching each other, breathing on each other, spitting on each other. How are you supposed to not get COVID-19 when there are asymptomatic cases? And I get they're going to be testing a lot, but that doesn't help. Well, it does, but the problem is they if they don't feel the symptoms,
00:01:51
Speaker
they don't want to get tested and the parents are just really getting mad about that they think it's fine to play but to be honest that i don't really agree with that because if you're going to be touching each other tackling on each other having so much players on a roster how are you supposed to not attract the virus and there are teams right now that are really, really struggling with COVID-19 like Clemson. They were and a lot of teams have. So if that keeps going, I don't see how the big 10 can
Petition and Bubble Challenges in College Sports
00:02:32
Speaker
play. Now they also have to listen to the players. Justin Fields. He was not happy. He actually made a petition and it already has 27,000 signatures.
00:02:46
Speaker
So he re they really also need to listen to the players. But I still don't know if it would be the right thing to do when you're playing football. Like the NBA found out how to make it work. But I don't see how you can make a bubble in college football because they're studying and some places have in person college. So that's not going to work. And they also.
00:03:12
Speaker
Like I said, they have huge rosters, like probably 80-man rosters. And I get that they could just play neutral fields for each conference, but then they, unless if they're all the SEC conferences, all the ACC, all the Big 12, if all of their classes are virtual, then I i see they can do a bubble.
00:03:38
Speaker
but There's so if only one school in each conference isn't doing virtual, they can't make it work. So that's really the only reason why I don't think the big 10 or really any conference should be playing football because the NBA, they have a bubble and they're doing great. um The and NHL, they're in a bubble and they're doing great, too. So the punch line here being If you're in a bubble, it's going to work, probably. The NBA hasn't had a single positive test since July 20th when Russell Westbrook and James Harden got tested positive. So if college football can find out how to make a bubble, that'd be fine. But I don't think they're going to be able to do that because, like I said, the classes
00:04:33
Speaker
The NBA, all the professional players, they don't
Impact of COVID-19 on Football Teams
00:04:36
Speaker
have classes. Their classes are practices and then they have games. So I really don't see how college football could make this happen without getting too many positive cases.
00:04:48
Speaker
This is how I think about it. So the NBA players that opted out, they're probably regretting it because they haven't been a single positive test since July 20th, which is very impressive. Now MLB players are like, phew, I can't, I'm so thankful I opted out. Lorenzo Kane, he opted in at the beginning of the season. And then he saw how much positive cases there were, he just opted out in the middle of the season. And Like I said, so some teams that I think are going to be great in college football this year. So this has nothing to do with COVID right now. So I would go with Ohio State right now, but. They're not playing, so I can't tell you about that. I think the Florida Gators. I think that that team right there is impressive. They have a nice wide receiver group. Now a lot of them did he get drafted like Van Jefferson.
00:05:43
Speaker
um And more and also one guy um Didn't get drafted but he automatically went to the Jaguars They also have a very good defense there. They also have a very good recruiting class So I can definitely see this Florida Gator team making the college football playoff, especially without teams like Ohio State ah Michigan if they could make it Oregon teams like that not being able to qualify for the college football playoff. I can definitely see them making it and ah teams like Alabama. They don't have much more competition this year, and they got a really good recruiting class like they do every year. So that could work out for them, but they also like LSU had a lot of players drafted. I don't think LSU is going to be that good this year. Why? Because they have 14 players drafted. So that's the biggest factor you could have.
00:06:41
Speaker
how much players got drafted and they had a lot. So that was the only thing about LSU. I think Texas is going to be pretty good. You know, they're always pretty good, but they're never top 10 like the teams have already mentioned. So Texas has a top 5 probably, top 10 quarterback in Sam Ellinger and they also had a lot of players drafted but they also have a lot of players that are going to get drafted. I think that's a factor but if a lot of players are going to get drafted but haven't gotten drafted yet that just tells you that they have a ton of talent.
00:07:23
Speaker
The team that I was going to say, but their best player opted out is Virginia Tech, but Caleb Farley opted out, so I don't think Virginia Tech is going to be able to do that much. And that's my list for teams that I think have a chance at making the playoffs. And another team that could make it, I don't know, is Oklahoma.
00:07:48
Speaker
and I really don't know. This is one of the teams that's like, maybe, because CD Lamb got drafted, Jalen Hurts got drafted, other top players got drafted, they have a quarterback that they don't know if he's gonna work. They got in, he was pretty good, recruit, like, well, we hope this works. They are really used to having amazing players. They had three straight Heisman Trophy candidates and two of them won. Two straight, that's impressive. Baker Mayfield, Tyler Murray. Now, this is a very important year for Oklahoma. They also didn't have a great recruiting class this year. This year, or sorry, in years past they've had one of the best recruiting classes ever. And now they were in 48th.
00:08:44
Speaker
out of 130. Now for some teams that's amazing but for Oklahoma that's not even that really good. So now we're gonna move on to the NBA playoffs that are going to kick off tomorrow, so or August 17th.
NBA Playoffs Matchup Previews
00:09:02
Speaker
We're gonna kick off with Nuggets versus Jazz, that should be a good one. Later that day we'll have Raptors versus Nets, Celtics versus 76ers, and Mavericks versus Clippers. So I'm gonna go over some Playoff predictions even though we have in previous episodes. I just want to go with them again because we've already seen what the bubble looked like and You know what the weird thing about the bubble was? Some of the best teams were some of the worst teams in the bubble Some of the teams that we thought were gonna be terrible in the bubble played great in the bubble like the Nets But the Bucks went three and five in the bubble the Lakers I think only won two or three games in the bubble and
00:09:43
Speaker
It's like, wait, what just happened? And the jazz, it dropped from fourth to sixth. That is straight up madness.
00:09:54
Speaker
But I'm going to go over some predictions. So Bucks versus Magic is probably going to go to the Bucks in a 4-0 sweep. The Heat and the Pacers. That's a really good series. We're gonna have TJ Warren, who's been amazing in the bubble. And then Jimmy Buckets, Tyler Hero, Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn. Come on us. Those both teams are very good. But I have to go with The Heat. Now we got a good one. It's Celtics versus 76ers. Now, the Sixers, Ben Simmons, he is a superstar or at least a star right now.
00:10:32
Speaker
made the all-star team for the second year in a row. But I still have to go with the Celtics because of the Ben Simmons injury. They still have Joel Embiid who almost got a very bad injury. He still got injured, but he wasn't, he's not going to be out for the series. But I, like I said, I'm going with the Celtics. Now we have Raptors versus Nets. This is, I think could go to six or seven, but I'm going with it, going to five. I want to pick the Raptors here because look, the Nets, they've had a lot of guys that actually got some opportunities here. Some guys that showed off, maybe had some first-screw double-doubles, guys like Chris Chiosa, Timothรฉ, Luau, Cabarote. Those guys have been actually performing well here at Temple, but I don't know if it's going to be able to work out that well against
00:11:26
Speaker
ah Raptors who have Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Vliet, Pascal Siaka, Marcus Sol, Sergey Baca. With that team, it's always hard to beat, no matter who you are. And the Nets, they only have three players that are really good, that are coming back, or at least um almost all-star caliber players.
00:11:49
Speaker
um with Joe Harris, Kara Silver, and Jared Allen. So now we're gonna move on to the Western Conference first round. We have Portland versus the Lakers, and the Western Conference play in Dane yesterday was a very fun one. um You saw the Portland Trail Blazers won by four, but Memphis was up by eight in the fourth quarter, and they also had to come back. So both teams made comebacks.
00:12:15
Speaker
But in the end, the Portland Trail Blazers won by a score of 126, 122. But I'm actually going to surprise a lot of people that I want to say the Blazers would beat the Lakers because they are coming in with a lot of momentum. They're kind of like the Phoenix Suns. They were 8-0 in the bubble. So if they made the playoffs, they'd be the team that nobody wanted to face. You saw them play tough teams like the Clippers, and they still won, even when um Paul George and Gwyliner were playing.
00:12:45
Speaker
played some very tough teams and were able to win. But Portland has done the same. So I'm going to go with Portland because of the momentum coming into the series. The Lakers have absolutely no momentum, just like the Bucks, but I still have to go with the Bucks because they're playing the magic. Now the Lakers, they're playing the Trailblazers. I bet you during the game, John Moran made a huge three. When they made it, laker Lakers players would have been like, yes!
00:13:13
Speaker
They do not want to play Portland and they're going to have to. Then we have Thunder Rockets. That's actually a very good one. This is going to be fun. on Russell Westbrook playing against his former team, Chris Paul doing the same. And I'm going to go with the Thunder, but it's definitely going to seven games. The reason why, well, I just don't know if James Harden will be able to go against this Thunder defense. I think they have Andre Robertson, who's made all defensive teams before, and they still have more on defense, including Danille Gallinari, and Steven Adams can also play defense. So i have I'm gonna have to go with the Thunder here. Now we have Nugget's Jazz. So this is actually a very fun one. You know, I can't believe the Jazz dropped to the sixth seed. They're also losing momentum.
00:14:05
Speaker
But the game in the bubble between these two went to double overtime, and Rudy Obert fouled out. So if that didn't happen, I'm pretty sure that Jazz would have won. But I'm picking the Jazz to win this series. I could be surprising you guys, but Will Bardin and Gary Harris are questionable for the Nuggets. Then we have Clippers versus Mavs. Now, this one is definitely going to go to the Clippers. If it goes to the Mavericks,
00:14:35
Speaker
I will be so surprised, I will just pass out. The Mavericks have not done well against the Clippers this year. Now, the Christoph Sporzingis-Luca duo is going to be fun, but if both stars on each team go off, who would win? It's more about the supporting cast in this season, her series, so it's more about who's behind them. For the Mavericks, they also, they have pretty good depth, but I'm pretty sure the Clippers have a little bit more.
00:15:04
Speaker
So I have to go with the Clippers winning this series in five. All right, so now we're going to move on to the conference semis.
Conference Semi-Finals Predictions
00:15:11
Speaker
So we have Bucks versus Heat. Most people would go with the Bucks, and I don't blame you for that. They're a pretty good team, but I'm going to go with the Heat. I think they're going to win in four games. Now, you guys might be sitting there with your mouth open, but I think it's because the Heat and the Heat still have it lost to the Bucks this year and they played twice or three times.
00:15:34
Speaker
So that's pretty impressive. And that wasn't even in the bubble. There were fans. So I'm going to heat and then we have Celtics Raptors. This might be the series of the playoffs. Uh, I think it's going to seven, but I think the Celtics will be able to pull it off. Why? I just think that Jason Tatum, Kim Walker, Jalen Brown, that trio is amazing now.
00:16:00
Speaker
The Raptors also have an amazing trio. So you never know, but I'm going to have to go with the Celtics. So now we go to the conference finals. So we're going to start off with, oh wait, sorry. We're going to do the Western conference semis, Blazers, Thunder Blazers. I think you're going to win this one in six.
00:16:23
Speaker
Dame dollars I think is going to come up clutch for the Portland Trail Blazers. I think CJ is the best player in the NBA that still hasn't made an All-Star game. This is his fifth consecutive season with over 20 points per game. He was definitely on the All-Star snub list with Bradley Beale. Now we go to the Jazz and the Clippers. I think the Clippers win this one in seven games. I think it's going to be competitive.
00:16:47
Speaker
because I think the Jazz are very good team. I think they could be a team beat with Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingalls, and Rudy Gobert. So I think it could be a dog fight and I wouldn't be surprised if Jazz won the series. um So now we go to Heat versus Celtics. I'm going to have to go with the Heat in this one. No, I'm joking. I'm going with the Celtics. They easily win the series.
00:17:16
Speaker
in six games. Now, I'm not going to say it's easy because we saw this game in the bubble and the heat one, so it could go either way. In Blazers Clippers, I think this one goes to seven. I'm going to go with Paul George hitting the buzzer beater, getting that little bit of revenge on Damian Miller after last year at OKC. So the finals, Celtics Clippers, great series. Wouldn't be surprised if either team won.
00:17:44
Speaker
But I have to go with the Clippers. I think they're the team to beat. Come on, I mean, yeah show them some respect. Come on. They're a great team. And I wouldn't be surprised if they won it all, like I said. Well, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eli Studio
Conclusion and NBA Playoffs Invitation
00:18:00
Speaker
Sports. Do not forget to watch the NBA playoffs. They're coming up. All right, thank you so much for listening.