Happy Friday, folks. And Happy New Year!
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| Happy New Year! |
Bulgarian Baba Vanga — who died in 1996 at the age of 85 – is well known among conspiracy theorists who believe she foretold natural disasters and global events long before they occurred.
Before she died Baba — dubbed the “Nostradamus from the Balkans” — left predictions up to the 51st Century, when she believed the world would end.
For 2018, she foresaw two world-changing events.
They were that China will become the world’s next “superpower,” taking over from the US and “a new form of energy” will be discovered on Venus.
Considering that the government just formally cancelled all plans for future exploration of Venus, that second prophecy seems a bit unlikely.
2. ‘The Last Jedi’: Mark Hamill “Regrets Voicing Doubts & Insecurities” About Luke Skywalker (Deadline)
“I regret voicing my doubts & insecurities in public,” he tweeted. “Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private. All I wanted was to make good movie. I got more than that – [Rian Johnson] made an all-time GREAT one!”
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| Promotional art for The Force Awakens |
Hamill famously wanted Luke to ride to the rescue at the end of The Force Awakens, putting his own character back at the center of the story rather than giving that same story over to a new generation of heroes. I get why he’d want that professionally, but passing the torch was the whole point of the last two films.
The scale of the catastrophe that is Star Wars: The Last Jedi is difficult to comprehend without comparing it to major, historic natural disasters. Because no other movie has come anywhere close to the picture’s $151.5 million 2nd weekend box office razing, there’s no movie comparison that gives its record-obliterating failure proper context.
Speaking of Internet trolls…No seriously, Forbes has been walking this story back almost since the minute it was published. Exhibit A. Exhibit B. I could go on. Forbes is just trolling the trolls, playing both sides because Star Wars draws clicks like nothing else.
For the record: “‘The Last Jedi’ Jumps To $447M Overseas, Closes In On $900M WW Box Office” according to Deadline. All other factors aside, I’ve no idea how you call that either a flop of a disaster.
4. The 10 most must-see films of 2018, from the new 'Fantastic Beasts' to 'Mary Poppins' (USA Today)
My pick is...
'The New Mutants' (April 13)
In launching a horror-tinged franchise with young superpowered mutants, director Josh Boone pulls more from Stephen King and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest than the operatic sci-fi of X-Men. New Mutants is a haunted-house movie in an asylum setting, where five teenagers— sorceress Magik (Anya Taylor-Joy), lycanthropic Wolfsbane (Maisie Williams), propulsive Cannonball (Charlie Heaton), solar-powered Sunspot (Henry Zaga) and psychic Mirage (Blu Hunt) — are held captive in a psych ward.
Yup. That sounds great, and I loved the old 1980s New Mutants comics.In launching a horror-tinged franchise with young superpowered mutants, director Josh Boone pulls more from Stephen King and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest than the operatic sci-fi of X-Men. New Mutants is a haunted-house movie in an asylum setting, where five teenagers— sorceress Magik (Anya Taylor-Joy), lycanthropic Wolfsbane (Maisie Williams), propulsive Cannonball (Charlie Heaton), solar-powered Sunspot (Henry Zaga) and psychic Mirage (Blu Hunt) — are held captive in a psych ward.
5. #ArmyTop25
I started this yesterday on Twitter, got some good-natured pushback from pro-Army sources, and decided to take a closer look at it to see how things shake out for myself.
3. Of Army’s losses, one was to the Big 10 champion. The other was to a team that won its division & played in its conference championship game.— Danno E. Cabeza (@Dan_T_Head) December 28, 2017
But. After watching Notre Dame Lax get picked for the NCAA tournament ahead of Army last season despite Army’s superior record AND head-to-head victory, I can’t say I have a lot of faith in the NCAA. So here’s waiting for the screwjob ending.— Danno E. Cabeza (@Dan_T_Head) December 28, 2017
Long story short: I have Army at either #25 or #26.
I started with ESPN’s College Football FPI, sorted by strength of record, with a goal of deciding on the Top 25 teams overall. This list will not be the same as one derived from strength of schedule; I put UCF first because they have the most wins and NO losses. I then eliminated the following:
-- Teams with less than 9 wins.
-- Team with no chance to reach at least 9 wins.
-- 9- or 10-win teams that have already lost bowl games.
This leaves a total of 22 x 10-win teams and 31 teams with a chance to get to at least 9 wins without losing a bowl game. My theory is that wins count, and that later wins count more. In many cases, this turns bowls into play-in games for the Top 25. That’s reasonable design, and it justifies the existence of the current--very large--bowl slate.
You’re welcome for that.
From here, I assumed that Top 15 teams will be ranked regardless of whether they win or lose their bowls. I also assumed that Auburn will be ranked (but Memphis has to win to get in) and that Army will be ranked ahead of Ohio. Ohio only has 9 wins, and its bowl victory over UAB is far less impressive than Army’s win over SDSU. This leaves 8 teams in the Top 30 with games to come for whom the bowl is a de facto play-in for the Top 25 -- Memphis, Notre Dame, LSU, Louisville, Miss. State, NC State, Michigan, and South Carolina. Assume half of these will be eliminated by bowl losses (highlighted below).30 - 4 = 26
My list is as follows, ranked on strength of record, not strength of schedule.
Record
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TEAM
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W-L
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Bowl Notes
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1
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UCF, AAC
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12-0
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Peach
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2
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Clemson, ACC
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12-1
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Sugar
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3
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Oklahoma, Big 12
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12-1
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Rose
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4
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Georgia, SEC
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12-1
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Rose
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5
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Wisconsin, Big 10
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12-1
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Orange
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6
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Alabama, SEC
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11-1
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Sugar
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7
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OSU, Big 10
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11-2
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Cotton
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8
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USC, Pac-12
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11-2
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Cotton
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9
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TCU, Big 12
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11-3
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Alamo: Def. Stanford
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10
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Boise State, MW
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11-3
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Las Vegas: Def. Oregon
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11
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FAU, C-USA
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11-3
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Boca Raton: Def. Akron
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12
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Toledo, MAC
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11-3
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Dollar Gen.: Def. App. State
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13
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Penn State, Big 10
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10-2
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Fiesta
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14
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Washington, Pac-12
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10-2
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Fiesta
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15
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Miami, ACC
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10-2
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Orange
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16
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Memphis, AAC
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10-2
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Liberty
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17
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USF, American
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10-2
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Birmingham: Def. Texas Tech
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18
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Auburn, SEC
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10-3
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Peach
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19
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OK State, Big 12
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10-3
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Camping World: Def. VT
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20
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Michigan St., Big 10
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10-3
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Holiday: Def. Wash. St.
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21
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Army, Indep.
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10-3
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Armed Forces: Def. SDSU
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22
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Fresno State, MW
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10-4
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Hawaii: Def. Houston
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23
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Notre Dame, Indep.
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9-3
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Citrus
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24
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LSU, SEC
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9-3
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Citrus
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25
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Northwestern, Big 10
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9-3
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Music City
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26
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Louisville, ACC
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8-4
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Tax Slayer
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27
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Miss St, SEC
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8-4
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Tax Slayer
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28
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NC State, ACC
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8-4
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Sun
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29
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Michigan, Big Ten
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8-4
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Outback
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30
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South Carolina, SEC
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8-4
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Outback
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Army’s best shot requires Memphis and NC State both to lose their bowl games, giving us 25 total teams with at least 9 wins and either a bowl victory or a Top 15 rank, including Auburn. This still may not be enough, but it’s the best, most reasonable argument that I can make that doesn't involve sending sportswriters to the Korea to guard the DMZ with their typewriters. Which I would also totally do, by the way,
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That’s all I’ve got. Enjoy the weekend!
Alas, Northwestern & NC State both won, leaving AT LEAST 26 teams on the list above, assuming Memphis does not also win. Plus, the above list does not include Troy, which also has 11 wins.
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