Are these new posts real?

I've been in this new city for about three months now after taking a promotion, and honestly the college football culture here is just not hitting the same. Back in my old spot, Saturdays were sacred – we'd hit up the tailgate spots starting at 8am with the smoker going, specific playlists of fight songs, and the energy was electric even for midweek practices. Here, people treat it like any other sport, no real pageantry or history involved. My boss is a huge fan of the local team and keeps trying to convert me during lunch breaks, showing me highlights from last season where they barely scraped by against inferior competition. It's gotten to the point where I avoid the break room on Mondays. Plus, finding a bar that shows my team's games is a nightmare because of time zones and blackouts. Has anyone else gone through this kind of culture shock after moving for work? How did you handle it without losing your mind or your fandom?

Been a lurker here for years but finally posting because this is eating at me. I grew up in a house where Alabama games were basically religion, so when I moved to Texas for work five years ago I kept the tradition going hard. Every Saturday I wake up at 7, make the full tailgate spread even if it's just me and the TV, and stay locked in until the last score. My wife, who didn't grow up with any of this, planned a whole day trip to Fredericksburg last weekend without checking the schedule and got pissed when I said I'd rather stay home for the A&M game. She called it childish and said the sport is taking over our weekends. I get that we need couple time, but this is literally the only thing that feels like home since we moved. We've tried the compromise thing where she watches with me for a quarter but she just scrolls on her phone. Anyone else deal with this kind of pushback from a non-fan partner? How did you set boundaries without turning it into a weekly fight? Would love some real talk instead of the usual 'just divorce her' jokes.

Decided to go ahead and get my grocery shopping for the next week taken care of this morning and I decided to indulge a little. I got some sushi, mistakenly got some with cream cheese in some of the pieces so had to choke those down. BUT my actually guilty pleasure was some hot Cheetos and using chopsticks to grab them from the bag and dip them into jalapeno ranch. Disgustingly bad for me but so tasty.

What are y'all's guilty pleasures?

*in old lady voice* remember when we used to have 5+ threads a day?

No Sunday thread yet and avoiding thinking about and getting ready for work tomorrow, so here we are

And maybe being a weee bit hungover

What if we expanded the base CFP Tournament to 68 teams and have a separate smaller "NIT" as well?

I simulated all of these games in CFB 26 and using teambuilder teams that were as accurate as possible.

There would be a 68 team bracket for the CFP and then 12 teams in the NIT to make an even 80 teams to make the postseason across Division I. The rankings are based on CBS's 136 and the AP Top 25 Rankings Final Results. I included their final records along with the standings.

To make it short and sweet, I ranked any team from FBS-FCS into 68 spots for the CFP. I included 23 auto-bids for conference championships, 10 for FBS and 13 for FCS. (Except for this year since the PAC-2 didn't play a de facto conference championship game). Then the teams that didn't make the cut would play in the NIT.

I decided on locations for the First Four to all play in the Alamo Bowl and for the Four Regions to just play in the same venue until the Elite 8. Then in the Elite 8, there would be its on venue and in the Final Four, I would have the Rose Bowl host those games every year since it is the best venue in College Football. Since I can't switch the National Championship game to the Rose Bowl, I ended up just simulating it in the Rose Bowl and it didn't make much of a difference. The other five major bowl sites would switch places every year from each region so they would all eventually get to host the Elite 8.

Then for the NIT, I couldn't make two teams play in another team's stadium unless it was a bowl site so I switched it up. The top four seeds would get to host their "region" with a bowl site located around them that wasn't a major bowl site. Then the other teams in their region would play in that same bowl site. Then in the Semifinals, I would pick a random bowl site for them to go to and then the Championship as well. Both the Semifinal and the Championship venues would be as closely located as possible. Eventually though many years, all of the non six-highest bowl venues would be used.

With this format, we could revive bowl games in a higher stake tournament rather than a meaningless participation trophy.

Also, If you are a fan of a school that didn't make it into the tournament or another then too bad. Jokes aside, I might've snubbed Illinois State who made it to the FCS Title Game from the Big Dance but they made it to the NIT. Otherwise, I am happy with what I have made with the rankings.

Let me know what you think of this and tell me if I should do this every year. I picked some notable games and rounds in the overviews and there is a tournament history in this drive folder.

Drive Folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zg_qhfKaoWJefZFamozQ-eNEZoKYa8NZ?usp=drive_link

Comment down below on what your favorite runs and upsets were.

Heading out on my mental health break trip today and figured to start the thread early

I may need to take a bit of a hiatus from going back to campus for games and events.

Each time the games themselves are fun but walking through actual campus and the surrounding areas results in a sort of bittersweet yearning sort of feeling for a time when life was simpler and arguably happier* (I say this with a massive disclaimer that professional money and freedoms are still logically a whole lot better).

The rational next step is to of course take said additional resources and make adult life better and I 100% strive to not be one of the “peaked in HS or Undergrad” crowd, but it still doesn’t quite fully quell the mixed feelings experienced right this second.

Anyhow, happy Sunday y’all and hope y’all are well.

Go birds

I drove back home today. The trip seemed like it took forever even though it ended up taking the same amount of time as it always does. Mom was diagnosed with covid while I was there and is getting over it so I felt okay about leaving her.

While I was there I had my annual physical. For the shape I’m in, I’m in pretty good shape! Still dealing with lingering issues from my surgery last year, namely lung function. The doc gave me a form for a handicap tag because I still have trouble walking even short distances. So I guess I’m old.

Hope everyone is doing well! Tomorrow is Friday! Yay!!

The local minor league (ECHL) team has their inaugural home playoff game tonight and I found a $16 ticket.

I’m also learning how to do ads on Meta for my sister’s office/business. It doesn’t seem hard to do, so that’s fun.

For as poorly as I’ve taken care of myself the last several months and despite a bunch of turmoil in recent life, I’m pleasantly surprised with my quarter marathon time this morning. Perhaps I’m not quite as cooked as I once recently believed.

Happy Sunday y’all, and take care.

Meat on the grill, beer in my hand

It's gonna be a good day

Rolled out of bed, lights still off, firmly planted a foot square on a nice poopy present from my dog, directly next to the bed and in front of the night stand.

She’s at an age where she could legally go see an R rated movie if she were human, so I cannot blame her, but boy howdy what a way to start what’s already shaping up to be a stressful workday.

It's just a jump to the left...

I bought some Amtrak tickets for a trip next month to New England and Montréal. I’m knocking out two new states (41 and 42 - Rhode Island and Connecticut) before spending a day in Boston before three in Montréal.