Week 10 College Football Musings; Is USC’s ROI on Lincoln Riley Looking Good?

What did we learn this week in college football?

Week 10 College Football Musings; Is USC’s ROI on Lincoln Riley Looking Good?

College Football Week 10 Musings; USC’s ROI on Lincoln Riley Trending Down
_Episode 48 of the Fantasy Sports Collective Podcast covers week ten of college football season, and which unbeaten…_share.transistor.fm

What did we learn this week in college football?

The list of true contenders has stabilized. We didn’t see any unblemished squads lose (with the exception of Air Force falling). The 1 loss teams Oregon and Alabama also both impressed. Oregon scored 63 in a conference game vs. Cal, while Alabama beat rival LSU. Both these teams are in the mix to break into the top 4. Who looked best?

Hard to say, all unbeatens won. Washington scored 52 on the road at USC but they also gave up 42 vs. dynamic QB Caleb Williams. Voters won’t love that but it was a big win. The rest of the top crowd played relatively safe games, although I’ll give kudos to Georgia who took care of business vs. Missouri.

Which brings me to 2 topics that are top of mind.

Is Lincoln Riley a good head coach? He had dynamic offenses at Oklahoma, producing two number one overall picks (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray), and arguably his best QB was Jalen Hurts. He certainly knows how to recruit offensive talent, getting Caleb Williams to commit to Oklahoma and travel to USC with him. But since he’s been in LA, there’s been more hype than actual results. SC had an exciting offensive season last year culminating in Caleb Williams winning the heisman but they failed in the games that mattered (e.g. Pac 12 title), and now this year he’s staring down 4 and possibly 5 losses. They have 3 total but travel to Autzen to play the Ducks this week, and still have rivalry game vs. a good UCLA team. Riley certainly is a good offensive coach but the ROI on the USC booster investment appears to be trending in the wrong direction.

The next one is the controversy with sign stealing at the University of Michigan. Does this really matter? We know the New England Patriots were doing this stuff, and it likely helped them win a super bowl or two. We also hear a ton of teams do this type of stuff. I realize the degree of Michigan’s alleged stealing is against not just the spirit of competition but also the formal Big 10 rules. I get the anger and there certainly needs to be punishment but would these schools be angry and calling for vengeance if this was the Univesity of Iowa? Hell no, it’s 100% jealously because Michigan has absolutely kicked the ass of all big 10 teams the past 2+ seasons. So let’s call a spade a spade.

Following this week most leagues will enter their “playoff” schedule, so here is the last week of my college fantasy football free agent targets.

Top College Fantasy Football Free Agent Targets

QB Graham Mertz — (Florida; 16% owned; 20.6 PPG) — The former Wisconsin starter has settled in as a consistent performer (#21 overall fantasy QB through 10 weeks) who is available in a ton of leagues.
QB Luke Atmyer — (Illinois; 12% owned; 20.2 PPG) — #22 overall fantasy scorer through 10 weeks.
RB Phil Mafah (Clemson; 25% owned; 13 PPG) — Mafah is the change of pace guy behind Will Shlpley, but Shipley is out (undetermined), which allowed Mafah to have a career game (186 yards & 2 TD’s) and big win vs. Notre Dame. If Shipley misses another week, he’s a must add.
RB Kye Robichaux (BC; 18% owned; 15.45 PPG) — Robichaux is a quiet plodder, he’s not spectacular but he’s putting up consistent production.
RB/WR Jamal Haynes (GT; 23% owned; 13.1 PPG) — Haynes is eligible at WR and RB, and he’s becoming a core part of the Tech offense. He’s got nearly 750 total yards and 6 TD’s, and will finish the year as a top 50 overall RB/WR/TE/Flex option.
WR Daniel Jackson (MINN; 13% owned; 13 PPG) — Jackson has back to back 100 yard outings with 11+ targets, he’s become their primary receiver. Will he keep it up? My guess is yes b/c Minnesota has realized they need more balance in back-to-back wins.
TE Arlis Boardingham (Florida; 26% owned) — Boardingham is an athletic freak, he’s being utilized in different areas of formation and has the potential to be a dominant positionless (think Hback, WR, TE) weapon.